


Miraculous Team: The Collector

by SonicPossible00



Series: Miraculous Team [5]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe, Antelope, Arachnid, Corbeau Noire, Dragonfly, F/F, F/M, Flint - Freeform, Forest Doe, India, Indian Character, Louve Grise, Mika - Freeform, Multi, Muria, Panda Rouge, Paris (City), Pin, Tamara - Freeform, flamingo, grizzly bear - Freeform, imp, mulan - Freeform, the collector - Freeform, zodiac miraculous
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-21
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2019-08-27 08:44:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 24
Words: 153,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16699204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SonicPossible00/pseuds/SonicPossible00
Summary: Sequel of Miraculous Team: Halloween Madness. After centuries of imprisonment, a dark force is unleashed and makes its way to Paris. Its target, Ladybug and the Miraculous Team. Marinette and her friends will face their toughest challenge yet, and they might have to do it, without their kwamis.(AU where everyone in Marinette and Adrien's class has a Miraculous. Numerous relationships MarixAdrien, AlyaxNino, JulekaxRose, ChloexSabrina, KimxAlix, IvanxMylène, etc)





	1. Freedom

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there! So, yeah, here we are, ready to start the fifth fanfic of the Miraculous Team. But before we get to it, I want to clear a couple of things, regarding the story you are about to read. First, the Collector in this story isn’t the same Collector that is Gabriel Agreste’s akumatized form, from the series. This Collector is a completely different character and will play an important role not only in this story, but other future stories as well. Second, we will see the inclusion of both Juleka’s brother Luka, and Alya’s sister Nora into this alternate universe. And third, as always, you can expect more development when it comes to our favourite ships, mainly MarinettexAdrien, AlyaxNino, ChloexSabrina, KimxAlix, RosexJuleka and IvanxMylene. Needless to say, that after losing for the fourth time in a row, Hawk Moth is going to take a small leave of absence in this story… but don’t worry, he and his cronies will be back. And now, on with the show!

“ _According to science, the Universe was created 13.8 billion years ago, which is to say it was a really long time ago. The Earth itself was created only 4.54 billion years ago, and while not as old as the Universe, it is still quite old. In historical terms, it is impossible for a human being to understand how long that was. In perspective, if one would place time in perspective, it would be amazed by how time works. For example, if the Earth formed at midnight and the present moment was the next midnight, 24 hours later, modern humans would have been around since 11:59:59 pm—1 second. And if human history itself span 24 hours from one midnight to the next, 14 minutes would represent the time since Christ._ ”

Those were the words from Professor Liu Chien, who told them to his two graduate students, Zhen Yu and Dai Jian, as they arrived at their destination, the archaeological site of Xiadu; or better yet, an archaeological site near the Xiadu site, near the Taihang Mountains, in China. A few months before, workers for a drilling company, who were searching for natural gas pockets came across the ruins of an ancient building, buried just a couple of feet from the surface. It did not take long for the Chinese government to interdict the site to the public, as well as suspending any drilling in the area, for further study. It took a couple of months to arrange things, but in the end, the government selected Professor Liu to be the head of research of the project. His job was to oversee the works on the first phase, and guarantee that any archaeological findings would be properly handled, before being shipped to Beijing. Liu Chien was a man in his late sixties, though one would never give him his real age, for he looked like he was in his mid-fifties. The only thing that gave away his real age was his white goatee, which he made sure, did not have a single hair out of place. This was not his first archaeological expedition, and even though he believed that he had seen enough archaeological sites and findings to not be surprised by whatever awaited him. The same could not be said by his two graduate students, who were new to all of that. They had never left Beijing in their life, and this was the first time out of China’s second largest city. To say they were ecstatic with what they were going to find, was putting it lightly. As the jeep they were on went up the barren road, the two of them kept asking questions to the old professor. Yu, being a girl, talked for both of her and her colleague, Jian, who was much quieter, and being a guy, preferred to hear, instead of talking.  

“What can you tell us about what we’re going to find, professor?” -Yu asked the old man. After a 2-hour train voyage, on which she spent most of her time sleeping due to the pills she had taken for air sickness, she was in the mood to talk and ask questions, a trait she had inherited from her grandmother, on her father’s side of the family, and which she cultivated while in college. 

“Well, I don’t know it much myself, my dear.” -Professor Liu answered her. –“I can only tell you what I was told, and what I was shown.” -he said, as he opened a small briefcase and took out a couple of photos that been taken to the ruins. –“Still, I can say that whatever is in there, it must be quite large. As you can see through these pictures, whatever it is, it must have been important. Buildings this large were only built either for royalty, or, for military purposes.”

“But what do you think? Is it a palace, a monastery, or maybe a military fortress?” -Yu asked him, already imagining how the ruins would look like from up-close.   

“Honestly, I don’t know, my dear. When I was shown these photos, I immediately began researching, trying to find a reason why such ruins would be this far north.” -Professor Liu went on. –“And to my surprise, I could not find anything that would help us identify it.”

“That is quite strange, professor.” -Jian said, talking for the first time, since they entered the jeep. –“A ruin that size must have been important, so, there should’ve been records of it.”

“Well, most of the times, there are records of such things, my boy. But, not always. If you remember my classes, I’ve stated more than once that it’s not unusual for places that were once important landmarks for a particular generation, to be forgotten by later generations.” -Professor Liu reminded him. –“And, of course, we must always remember that there are times when records were destroyed, or simply erased from existence, for a reason.”

“Unless… nobody wanted it to be found!” -Yu exclaimed, her eyes sparkling, as she said it. She loved all kinds of conspiracies. UFO’s, governmental cover-ups, supernatural curses… she would devour all the books regarding the subject she could find. But her favourite were theories regarding disappearing cities and civilizations. And the more she thought about it, the more it felt to her that everything regarding those unknown ruins, all pointed out to an untold story… one that no one wanted it to be known; one that had written “mystery” in it.   

“You’re not going to start with your usual conspiracy theories, are you, Yu?” -Jian asked her. He liked his friend, but he never understood how the girl believed in things that seemed to have come out of a mystery novel, or an Indiana Jones movie. Unlike her, he had both his feet on the ground, and he only had a wish. To become one of the best archaeologists in the world and having his name on the mouth of everyone for his discoveries.     

“Why can’t you just pretend for once that I might be right about it?” -Yu shot at him. She did not like when people told her that those theories she liked so much were implausible or ridiculous.

“Because that’s not the job of an archaeologist! An archaeologist is supposed to stick to the facts, not coming up with crazy stories, based on something imaginary!” -Jian told her. –“Besides, you’ve been watching too many Indiana Jones movies!”

“Maybe I have, maybe I haven’t! But you can’t tell me that science has all the answers!” -Yu shot at him. –“If so, then, how do you explain those heroes in Paris? Are they really magical? Or, maybe they are part of a secret black ops. laboratory experiment, and their enemy was also part of the team, but became evil, and now they have to fight him, so he doesn’t take over the world!” -she said, throwing away all sorts of crazy ideas into the air, not really knowing that bits of some them were in a way true. 

“What does that have to do with archaeology?!” -Jian asked her, trying to understand why she had used the Miraculous Team as an example to justify what they were talking about. 

“Please, stop it, both of you!” -the professor told them, trying to calm them. He knew that if he did not stop them, they would start throwing insults to one another, and he was not in the mood to hear them bickering. –“Yu, I’ve been telling you this for years now. Not everything that disappears has to do with some half-baked conspiracy theory. Sometimes, it was merely forgotten, like the city of Pompeii, which remained forgotten until the end of the 16th century.” -he exemplified.

“See? Even the professor agrees with me.” -Jian said with a triumphant smug on his face.

“And you, Jian, you must be more open-minded to the possibility that there are things in this world that someone did not want to be known.” -the professor also reprimanded him, making the smug he had on his face disappear as quickly as it appeared. –“It is true that an archaeologist’s job is to interpret what he sees in the artefacts, while telling its story, not allowing his imagination to get the best of him. But, sometimes, a little imagination is needed to fill in the gaps of such story. In other words, there must be balance in what we do as archaeologists. And I hope you show that, once we arrive at the digging site. Remember, I don’t want to spend my time reprimanding you, as if you were toddlers fighting for the right of playing with a toy first, understood?”

“Yes, professor.” -they both answered in chorus.

And with those words, the argument ended. Professor Liu knew his assistants well enough to end their arguments with a right set of words. Not another word was exchanged for the rest of the trip, which lasted for about half an hour. Their driver, who spent the whole trip silent, could not help but to think that the two of them were acting like siblings, while the professor had to keep them in check, like a grandfather would do. It was only when they arrived at the digging site, that the silence was broken, as they saw what awaited them. Jian and Yu believed there would be just a couple of people at the camp, waiting for them to arrive, but to their surprise there were close to a hundred people there. Most of them were digging workers that had been hired to help with the excavation, while there were a handful of soldiers, who were there to keep the peace and to ensure that only authorized personnel entered the site. Last, but not least, was a small group of other archaeologists that had been invited by the Chinese government, each one of them an expert in its area, and with them, were also their respective assistants.

After being introduced to everyone, Yu and Jian took the time to familiarize a little with their surroundings, while Professor Lin looked over the newest photos of the ruins that had been taken the previous day, as well as a ground-penetrating radargram of the area, which revealed that the large ruin that had been found was only the tip of the iceberg.

While walking around the site, both Yu and Jian familiarized themselves with the site and the people in it. They took their time to also appreciate the beautiful landscape that was all around them. The beauty of the Taihang Mountains was breath-taking. Even they were dozens of kilometres away from them, their impressive size made whoever it looked at them feel insignificant. It was not until an hour later, when the Sun was high in the sky, signalling it was time for lunch that Yu and Jian joined Professor Lin, who by then had incredible news to share with them. As they ate, the old man told them what he had learned, regarding the digging site.  

“According to the radargram, the ruins of the monastery are just the tip of the iceberg. This whole area is one giant ruin, waiting to be dug out.” -the professor told them, his voice showing he was quite excited about it.

“A monastery? So, that’s what the ruin shown in those photos is?” -Jian asked him.

“Indeed. We still don’t know much about it, but at first glance, the team believes the monastery was built, maybe 40 centuries ago, and if so, it’s old than the oldest sections of the Great Wall, and as old as the Great Pyramids in Egypt.” -the old professor stated.

“40 centuries? Then, that means it’s older than Buddhism itself.” -Jian said.

“Yes. Some members of the team have managed to find a few Buddhist elements in the photos that were took, but the whole structure is far older than that. The monastery might have been built at first for some sort of cult, and later used by Buddhist monks.” -Professor Liu said, hypothesizing the last part. Only when they were inside, would they know more about the monastery and its secrets.   

“And around it, professor? What is around it? -Yu asked him, intrigued.

“A city.”

“A city?! Then, it’s not just a lost monastery or temple we’re talking about. We’re talking about a lost city!” -Yu exclaimed, excited.

“Yes, and from what the radargram has showed, this could be the greatest finding ever, in this part of the country.” -Professor Lin stated, mildly excited. –“It’s still too soon to make any assumptions, but, I do believe that it will take us years to uncover everything there is to uncover.”

“So, when do we start exploring and digging?” -Jian asked him, as he took a bite out of his sandwich.

“Only in a couple of days. The tunnel that leads to the underground cave where the ruins of the monastery were found is quite damaged, and as such, it needs to be reinforced, before anyone stands foot again inside it.” -Professor Liu said. –“But don’t worry. We won’t be standing here doing nothing in the meantime. We will be preparing ourselves for the task that is to come. Plus, there are already a few artefacts that have been recovered. We’ll be busy examining and cataloguing them.”

“But, professor. From what you told us, the monastery’s ruins are just a couple of feet from the surface. Why can’t we just dig a hole in the ground and use it as a new access to the ruins?” -Yu asked the old man.

“Our geologist colleagues have already hypothesized doing that, but they fear that by doing so, we might cause the cave’s ceiling to collapse and damage the ruins.” -Professor Liu explained. –“The soil is rather delicate, and the last thing we want is to have the ruins destroyed, because we were too eager to see them. We’ll just have to be patient.”

* * *

The rest of the day went by rather fast, and without a single hitch. The work on the tunnel was progressing at a steady pace, and a few of the artefacts that were found earlier had been processed. After dinner, everyone stood around talking for a couple of hours, before calling it a day. They would have to wake up a little bit before sunrise, and so, they needed a goodnight sleep. Yu and Jian were among the last to go to their tents. But even after she entered her tent to sleep, Yu could not sleep. The camp did not have many comforts, but it had an excellent wi-fi signal, and she was catching up on the news in the Miraculous Blog. Apart from being a fan of conspiracies, she was also a big fan of the Miraculous Team and their adventures. Many times, she wondered what it would be like living in Paris and seeing the heroes up close, whenever they went up against one of Hawk Moth’s creations. And their latest adventure, whose summary had been written by Alya, with a little help from Nino and Mylee, made her feel like she had been on the spot, seeing all of it happening.   

“ _Whoa… I can’t believe it!_ ” -Yu thought to herself. –“ _That must have been one colossal move by Antelope and Arachnid. What I wouldn’t have given to see this happening._ ” -she said. –“ _I wonder if there’s a video of it around here?_ ”

While she kept herself up to date with the heroic deeds of the Miraculous heroes, in his tent, Jian was trying to sleep, but saw this as a challenging task, because he found he had bought a sleeping bag, one size too little.

“I knew I should have bought a bigger sleeping bag…” -Jian sighed, as he tried not to move too much. He feared that if he did, he would tear the sleeping bag.

As for Professor Liu, just like every other major archaeologist in that camp, he had been given a trailer, which provided him with a little bit more of comfort and privacy, as well as a place to work in peace during the night, if he felt like doing it so. It was not a very spacious trailer, or very luxurious, but it was all he needed.    

But, before he was to go to sleep, he had to do something he did every night, when in the field, and that was to record what had happened in a research journal. Over the years he had switched from writing in a book to a more digital version of the same. As he set his cell phone to begin recording, he mentally told himself what he was going to say. Sitting on a chair, he smiled to the camera, before beginning.  

“Day 1. Project commences. As expected, the ruins that were initially found are just the tip of the iceberg. Beneath us, is an entire city. Most of it is buried underneath tons of soil, but, a few sections of it, like the monastery are in a system of caves, which will be the first to be explored, once the access tunnel has been reinforced.” -Professor Liu declared. –“I must say that I expected to find something big, when they showed me the first photos of the ruins, but I never thought it would be something this big. A whole city, waiting to be uncovered. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t excited about this crusade that we’re about to undertake. In fact, I am just as excited as are my assistants. This is their first experience on the field, and I can consider myself lucky in having them here with me, to help me. They both have a tremendous potential to become splendid archaeologists, and I hope I can help them achieve that goal, by guiding them through the right path. On a personal note, I must point out that Yu displays an enthusiasm regarding what we might find here, like the one demonstrated by a 5-year-old, after gaining a new toy. I don’t see that as a bad thing, but too much enthusiasm is never a good thing. I will have to talk to her and let her know that even if she’s excited about this, she’ll have to learn to control her excitement, while around others. We don’t anyone to get upset with any commentary she might make, while excavating.” -he said, as he ended the recording.

* * *

The alarm clock in Jian’s tent had just stroke two in the morning, when a quick, yet violent tremor shook the earth, waking him up, along with the rest of the camp. Panicking, he tore his sleeping bag. Trying to overthink it, he exited the tent and saw everyone around him just as shook as he was, trying to understand what had happened. Yu, whose tent was just a few feet away from his, joined him, wondering what that tremor could have had been.

“Was that an earthquake?” -Yu asked him.

“I don’t know, maybe.” -Jian told her. –“Or maybe…”

“Or maybe what?” -Yu asked.

“Or maybe it was the tunnel that caved in, along with something else.” -Jian hypothesized.

“I don’t think so. That felt more like an earthquake than something caving in.” -Yu said, as she looked around. The camp was a bit of a mess then, with people wondering what had happened. –“Look, there’s the professor.” -she pointed to the old man, who was closing on them.

Professor Liu had decided to read a little before going to bed and did not notice the time. When the earth shook, he quickly dropped the book and exited the trailer, to find out what had happened. It did not take him long to find his students, who just like him wondered what had happened. Seeing them alright, it made him feel calmer about what was going on.

“Are you alright?” -Professor Liu asked them, as he approached them.

“Yes, we are. And you, professor?” -Jian asked the old man.

“I’m fine, don’t worry.” -Professor Liu tranquilized him.

“That was an earthquake wasn’t it, professor?”

“I’m not sure, Yu, but I would say yes.” -Professor Liu answered her. –“I just hope that nobody has gotten hurt.” -he said, as he looked around, checking to see if anyone he knew was missing. As far as his eyes could tell, everyone was accounted for. 

“Do you think that the tunnel caved in?” -Jian asked the old man, worried not only about the workers that were inside, but also about how that would affect their work.

“I don’t know… but, something tells me that we’re about to know, Jian.” -Professor Liu said, as he pointed to a group of people coming in their direction.

The group of people were some of the workers. They looked pretty unscathed, though one or two of them had a few bruises, but nothing serious. Professor Liu joined the rest of the chief archaeologists and wasted no time in questioning the workers, as soon as they arrived. They wanted to know if something bad had happened but were forced to wait a couple of minutes for the men to catch their breath.

“What happened? Are you alright?” -the professor asked them.

It was quickly established that all the workers had been able to exit the tunnel, and that this one had sustained a little damage, but nothing big. But what they were eager, for the lack of better word, to tell the chief archaeologists was something different. Something none was expecting to hear.   

“What? Where did this happen? Show us!” -Professor Liu exclaimed.

It turned out that that small earthquake, which made everyone in the camp wake up, did something unexpected; it opened a sizable hole on the ground, about 100 meters from where the entrance tunnel was, thus, giving everyone an alternative route inside the ruins. Following the workers to the place where this had happened, when they arrived, they saw that someone had already placed some protective barriers around it. The hole had a semi-circular shape and was about five-meters. The workers were afraid that a possible aftershock would increase its size. Though they were told to keep away from the barriers, everyone wanted to see the hole with their own eyes. Worried about the safety of everyone in the camp, the chief of the team of workers felt it was his duty to warn the chief archaeologists that it was not prudent to continue working, at least until any replica took place. Taking their words into consideration, they agreed that they would wait 72 hours before restarting the work on the tunnel, while also monitoring any other structural fragilities that might have happened, other than the hole they were all staring at right then.     

“We should also contact the CEA in Beijing and let them know about this, although I think they might know already.” -one of the chief archaeologists said, refering to the China Earthquake Administration.  

As they decided on what to do next, a few on the younger assistant archaeologists who were too stressed to go back to sleep, wondered if they could take advantage of what had happened to explore the ruins, with a little help from a drone. Quickly pitching the idea to the chief archaeologists, these were initially a little doubtful, given what had happened. But eventually they agreed to it, while also stating that if anything happened to the drone, it would come out of their pocket. After going back to their tents and changed back into their work clothes, they went to get the drone.

The drone they were going to use was equipped with a powerful flashlight, which allowed its user to see even in the darkest places. And in case this one failed, it was also equipped with night-vision. Once it was turned on, they quickly tested it to see if it was fully operational. The idea of using such an expensive drone was a little scary, and knowing that if anything happened to it, they would have to pay for it, it was better to be safe than sorry.

“Zoom in… zoom out… night vision… I think we’re good to go.”

“You sure about that?”

“Positive! Now let’s take this baby for a spin and get us some cool images of what’s down there!”

With the drone tested and calibrated, they felt they were ready to use it, to find out just what was beneath their feet. Breaking a few glow sticks, they threw them into the hole, before sending the drone down. As the drone was entered the hole, one could say there was excitement in the air. Though most people went back to bed, that young group, along with most of the chief archaeologists, were too excited with that opportunity to even thinking about sleeping. The first images they caught of the ruins made them realize that whatever they had imagined these would look like, they would not be as spectacular as they were. The buildings, the streets, everything in them, were perfectly preserved, much like it had happened in Pompeii, only differently. For some unknown reason, that part of the ruins had been perfectly preserved, unlike other parts which would have to be dug out. Just from looking at them, one could easily imagine how people lived there.

“This is so cool…”

“Tell me you’re recording this. It will take us at least a few more days before we can get down there.”

“One question… do you think that a photo taken by a drone can be submitted to National Geographic? Because if so, then, every last one of the photos I’m taking, has the “cover of National Geographic magazine” written all over them!”

They all felt the same kind of excitement the men who opened Tutankhamun’s tomb, and saw the marvels that were inside it. But their enthusiasm was cut short, when the drone began to act with a mind of its own and ended up shutting itself down. Wondering what had happened to the drone, they immediately thought of how they were going to retrieve it. Not seeing another way, one would have to go down and get it back. Initially, no one volunteered to do it. But after a few seconds, Jian volunteered to go down. With the help of some of the workers, who provided him with a harness, he was getting ready to go down the hole, when Professor Liu advised him.    

“Remember, when you want to come back up pull the rope twice. If there’s any kind of trouble or emergency, just pull the rope as many times as you can. And remember, always keep your walkie-talkie on.”

“Don’t worry, professor. I will.” -Jian said, as he readied himself. –“Be back in a couple of minutes.”

Going down the hole, Jian found himself in a large cave, this one illuminated only by the glow sticks they had dropped earlier. Turning on a flashlight he had with him, he tried to get a better look at his surroundings. The plan was for him to get the drone and come back up, but he had a different plan. He was going to try and snap a couple of photos of the ruins himself, and while down there, he was also going to look around a bit. He knew that was against protocol, but he kept telling himself that sometimes one must bend the rules a little bit to do something amazing.  

“This is most interesting.” -Jian thought to himself, as he looked around.

“What do you see?!” -a voice said, coming from the walkie-talkie. It was Yu talking.

“It’s a large cave. I still can’t believe that all of this is down here.” -Jian answered her over the walkie-talkie.

“Do you see the drone?” -another voice was heard. This one belonged to one of the other assistants.

“Not yet… I guess I’ll have to look around for it.” -Jian said. –“I’m reaching the ground.” -he declared, as his feet touched the dusty floor. Right then, he felt a little like how Neil Armstrong must have felt when he walked on the Moon for the first time.

Looking around, he quickly saw where the drone was. Knowing where it was, he went ahead and began exploring the ruins, taking the time to photograph everything he believed was worth photographing. As he took the photos, the camera’s flash revealed new details on what was around him. The whole place looked incredibly well-preserved, just as he had noticed, while climbing down the rope. The only place where it looked damaged was where the debris from the ceiling had fallen on, and even that did not look very damaged. Still, he decided not to enter any of the buildings, keeping himself on the outside. He did not want to damage anything, or risk destroying any artefacts. For every photo he took, he let out an aw or an ah. He could hear people talking on the walkie-talkie, but his mind was somewhere else. He was immersed into what he was doing, losing track of time… and as far as one could say, he was doing History, by photographing the never before seen ruins of a lost city. In his mind, he was already picturing how his photos would be the first to be used to publicize that discovery. He would be famous, and best of all, his name would be recognized all over the world.  

“This is so great… wait until the professor sees this. He won’t even be mad at me for taking all this time.” -he said, as he snapped a couple of more shots. –“Oh, this one’s really good.”

He had just turned a corner, when he heard something. He turned around to see what it was, but he did not see a thing. Walking a couple of more steps, he once again heard the same sound. Doing the exact same thing he did before, he began to think he was hearing things. It was then, that he felt something touching his left shoulder, scaring him. Turning around, he saw Yu looking at him, while holding a flashlight and the drone. Like him, she was wearing a harness, and she did not look happy at all.     

“You scared me!” -Jian screamed, his voice echoing all over the place.

“Well, you shouldn’t have been going around and taking photos, instead of looking for the drone and getting back up there.” -Yu scolded at him. –“The professor and the others were worried something bad had happened to you!”

“I got a little side-tracked, okay? I was doing a little research.” -Jian told her, his heart still racing like crazy from the scare she had given him. –“Besides, I was only gone for about five minutes.”

“Five minutes? Make that twenty minutes! Why didn’t you answer your walkie-talkie?! And a little research? Aren’t you just trying to show off for everyone? The very least could’ve done was answer us, when we called you over.” -Yu said, when her walkie-talkie beeped. –“Yes? Yes, professor, I found him. We’re on our way back, right now.” -she said, as the two of them began to walk back.    

“Why didn’t you tell him about what I was doing?” -Jian asked her. Something in him believed she was going to tell the professor, what he had been up to, while down there.

“That’s for you to tell him, not me. Besides, we’re not kids in the kindergarten…” -Yu told him.

She had not finished talking, when the earth shook once more, this time just for a second, and the floor beneath their feet caved in, dragging her and Jian down. Fear took their spirits, as they plunged into a dark abyss. They were both expecting to drop several dozen meters before hitting the ground, and then ending up dead from the fall. But to their surprise, the drop was just a couple of meters, ending up with them falling on their stomachs. It was a hard landing, but they were both alive, with a few bruises and cuts; nothing serious.  

“Yu… a-are you okay?!” -Jian screamed.  

“I-I am… and you?” -Yu declared, as she tried to get back on her feet. She had landed badly, and her ankle was hurting. She believed it was not sprained or broken, but even so, it hurt quite a bit.

“I’m okay, too…” -Jian said, as he slowly got back on his feet. –“I t-thought we were goners.”

“S-So did I.” -Yu said, as she tried to find her flashlight in the dark. The first thing her hands caught were something made of plastic. It did not take her long to figure out it was the drone, which she could feel with her hands, was broken. Finally, she found her flashlight and quickly turned it on. –“Where are we?” -she asked, as she flashed her flashlight around, trying to see where they had ended up in.

“I don’t know… but it seems like another cave, or maybe a tunnel.” -Jian said, as he flashed his flashlight around. –“Although, I’m more convinced it’s a cave… can you see a way for us to get back up there? I don’t want to stay here too long.” -he stated.

“No… and I think we can’t go back up. At least, not the way we came.” -Yu said, as she pointed her flashlight up to the hole they had fallen from, before grabbing her walkie-talkie. -“Professor? Professor?! Can you hear me?” -she asked over the walkie-talkie, only picking up static. –“My walkie-talkie is broken. What about yours?”

“Mine’s damaged as well.” -Jian said, as he checked it, realizing this one had been crushed by the rubble, and tossing it to the side.  

“The professor is going to kill us… I wouldn’t be surprised if he sends us home, as soon as we get out of this hole… that is, if we get out here.” -Yu declared, her voice showing just how nervous she was right then.  

“Don’t say that. Of course, we’re going to get out of here.” -Jian told her that, to calm her down, but also to convince himself that there had to be a way out of that jam. It was then, that his flashlight showed him something he was not expecting to see. –“Plus, he’s not going to kill us or send us home. Not after we show him this.”

About 10 meters of where Jian was, stood a massive stone door carved with numerous symbols and Han characters, which he did not recognize. Other than the size of the door, which was about 4 meters tall, it was the way it had been made. It looked almost as if had been carved from the stone around it, and then polished, until it was absolutely smooth to the eye and the touch. Speechless, he walked towards it, while trying to understand what it was written on it. But no matter how much he tried, he just could not figure what those characters meant.   

“This is unbelievable.” -Jian said, as he kept staring at the door, as Yu joined him, she too was surprised by what she was seeing. Staring at it, she felt like she knew the symbol that was in the middle, from somewhere else, but could not remember where. The symbol looked like the Yin/Yang symbol, but it had a much more complex design.

“There is no way this could have been done with rudimentary hand tools… It’s too perfect to have been carved all those millenniums ago.” -Yu said. –“This could have only been done by…”

“Don’t say aliens…” -Jian warned her. He was not in the mood to hear one of his friend’s preposterous tales.

“I wasn’t going to say aliens!” -Yu protested. –“I was going to say by someone with magical abilities, like a wizard or a warlock.” -she declared.   

“That’s even worst than aliens!” -Jian shot at her. –“Look, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that this is huge! The professor believed having a lost city to uncover, when he came just to explore the ruins of an old monastery was awesome. But with this thing here, we just elevated things to a whole new level!” -he said, still trying to process what was in front of him.

To get a better look at the door, he asked Yu to hold his flashlight, while he looked for his camera, in one of his pockets. Finding it, he saw this one was miraculously intact, despite the earlier fall. Snapping photos of the door, he made sure to photograph every little detail. Touching it, he felt like jolt of energy going through his body, before the door began glowing, illuminating the cave they were in. None of them had ever seen anything like it before. It seemed unreal, as something taken from a person’s wildest fantasies and dreams, and yet, it was real, and it was happening in front of them. But it did not last long, and soon the glow began to fade, and once it was gone, it revealed an open door and a tunnel, leading to another part of that cave.

“Magic…” -Yu sighed, baffled. –“… and this time, don’t tell me it can’t be it, because there’s no other explanation for this.” -she told Jian, who remained silent.

Not understanding what had happened, they both were a little afraid of what to expect, if they decided to enter. Deep inside of them, something was telling them to not go forward and to stay away from whatever it could possibly exist in that new-found part of the cave. Yet, inside of them, was also something else telling them to take a risk and go forward. In the end, curiosity got the best of them. Holding their breath, they both walked towards the darkness, with nothing but their flashlights to point the way, wondering what else they would find. In their minds, ideas began to run loose, as they imagined what awaited them at the end of that tunnel. Yu’s ankle was getting worst, and seeing that she was beginning to limp, Jian helped her out.

“Come on, put your arm around me.” -Jian told her.    

And what awaited them was something none of them imagined. When they saw themselves out of the tunnel, Yu remembered she had packed a couple of glowsticks on her backpack. Taking them out, she broke them and threw them into the dark, to reveal they had ended up in a huge round room with a tall ceiling. But what amazed them was not the room itself, it was what was in it. Displayed in a full circle were twelve stone statues, each the size of a VW Beetle. And these were no ordinary statues. They were Foo dogs, also known as Chinese guard dogs, and they were all facing the interior of the circle.    

“Okay… I’m starting to feel like when you open a matryoshka, you think there can’t be any smaller ones, and you end up finding that there’s one more.” -Yu declared, baffled at what was in front of her and Jian.     

“This doesn’t make sense… these statues shouldn’t be here.” -Jian declared, as he approached one of the Foo dog statues, to get a better look at them. These were made of a white rock, most likely marble, and were decorated with gold.

“Why not?” -Yu asked him.

“Don’t tell me you already forgot what we learned in the first year of college?” -Jian asked her, and before she could answer him back, he went on. –“The Chinese guard dogs were a symbol of power during the Han dynasty, and this whole place is a lot older than that.”

“Maybe they were added later?” -she said.

“Or maybe… we just found the oldest Chinese guard dogs in the history of China!” -Jian exclaimed. The way he talked, he was starting to sound more and more like Yu. –“This is getting better and better! The professor is going to flip out when he sees all of this!” -he said, as he photographed the statues.

“Your sounding more and more like me.” -Yu looked at him with a smug on her face.

“Okay, maybe I’m getting ahead of myself with these assumptions, and I really shouldn’t, because that’s not what an archaeologist does, but…”

“I get it, don’t worry. Still, I don’t know anything about that, but I’m more intrigued with what these statues are guarding.” -Yu declared.

“What are you talking about?!” -Jian asked her, puzzled.

“I’m talking about that over there.”  

Jian had been so focused on the room and on the Foo dogs’ statues, that he had completely missed an object that was at the centre of the circle formed by the statues. The object in question was a large urn. This one was made of alabaster, standing 5 feet tall, painted with gold paint, and beautifully decorated with animal motifs. Upon closer inspection, one would see that each of the animals represented were part of the Chinese zodiac. The way it had been crafted, made it one of a kind. Just like it had happened with the large stone statues of the Foo dogs, the detail and the finesse of the urn made it too recent to have been crafted more than 40 centuries ago.

“This is incredible.” -Jian said, as he got closer to the urn and photographed it.

“I’ve never seen anything like it before.” -Yu said, standing behind Jian.

“Neither have I. This piece is unlike anything we’ve ever studied.” -Jian said, as he kept photographing the urn. –“But whoever’s ashes are inside this thing, it must have been pretty important.” -he said.

“How do you know it was someone important?” -Yu asked him. –“It could have been more thank just one person. Maybe inside it, are the ashes of not just one person, but a whole group.” -she suggested.

“Well, I don’t know about that. But History has told us that only people of incredible importance deserve such honours. I just wished there was a way for us to know who it was….” -Jian told her, snapping another photo. –“Plus, there’s that strange symbol we found on the door before.” -he pointed out to the symbol that resembled the Yin/Yang symbol, that had been carved on a wax seal, as he kneeled in front of the urn to take a couple close-up shots. –“I’m starting to get a patter here.”  

“Let me take a look…” -Yu said, when she tripped, landing on top of Jian, who in turn fell forward, making the urn fall.

He still tried to grab it, but he was too slow. Once it hit the ground, the urn broke into a hundred pieces. Jian cursed their luck. But before he could blame Yu for what happened, the contents of the urn began to glow magically, as a gust of wind elevated them in the air, making them dance. For the second time that night, Jian and Yu were witnessing something that could not be explained. The glowing ashes quickly arranged themselves into the form of a glowing man. When the glow faded, they were baffled by the figure that stood in front of them. Standing 7 feet tall, wearing a menacing silver and golden armour, complete with a twin bladed sword that the more you look at it, the deadlier it looked like. The armour had been crafted in a way that it resembled the armour used by the 2003 version of the Shredder, the Ninja Turtles mortal enemy. The armour mirrored the urn’s decoration, with each single part of it having a different animal motif. Looking at the man, they did not know what was scarier; the armour or the guy’s eyes red glowing eyes, which were the only thing in his face that could be seen.   

“Uh, h-hello?” -Yu said. The shock had been so great, she could not find any other words to say.

The man in the armour pointed his weapon at the two of them and began spoking in a language they did not understand. To make matters worse, his voice sounded like a mix of guttural sounds, making it even harder to understand whatever he could be speaking. Raising his voice, Jian and Yu became even more frightened than before. The fear in them culminated, when the armoured man swung his weapon and tried to cut them into pieces. Screaming, Jian began running, with Yu following him, though slower than him, thanks to her ankle injury.

“W-Wait for me, Jian! Don’t leave me here!” -Yu screamed at him, begging for hi to come back and help her.

Tripping, she dropped on her knees. The only thing she could hear was the sound of the man in the armour getting closer and closer, as her heart raced out of control. Turning around, she could not see him because of the darkness in the tunnel, but she knew he was close. Breathing heavily, she froze and waited for the killing blow, when she felt something touching her shoulder. It was Jian, he had come back for her.

“Hang on, we’re going to get out of here…”

But he had not finished talking, when the armoured man’s blade hit the ground, spooking them. Using the flashlight, Jian saw that he was just a couple of feet away from them, brandishing the blade, looking at them with an even more menacing look than before.

“Get away from her!” -Jian screamed at him, while putting himself between the guy’s blade and Yu.

He had screamed with all his strength, and used his scariest voice, hoping that would scare the guy. But it did not. Lifting the blade, the armoured man pointed at Jian, and he looked him in the eyes for what it looked like an eternity. The young man did not know what to do. He did not know if he should grab Yu and try to run, of he should stay still. And before he could make up his mind, the armoured man’s right gauntlet began to glow orange, just before something absolutely insane happened. A tiger, or what could be perceived as half a tiger appeared, floating. But this tiger did not look like a tiger; it was transparent and had red eyes, just like the armoured man. Roaring, the creature attacked and cut off Lian’s arm, slicing it like an Italian pepperoni. In the darkness, one could not see the blood gushing from where his arm had been just a few seconds prior. But there was no need, Jian’s screams of pain were enough to know what happened. And then, after another roar and another couple of frightful screams from Jian, there was silence.

Covered in her friend’s blood, Yu knew that Jian was dead, and she would be too, if she did not get out of there. She wanted to scream, but no matter how much she tried to do it, she could not. It was like her screams were stuck in her throat. In the dark, panicking, she tried to find her way out of there, only to go against the tunnel’s walls. And then, she felt something biting her left arm. Then, she felt again, and again. There was something biting her. Touching the latest spot, she had been bitten, she felt two puncture marks. She hardly had the time for her brain to process she had been bitten by a snake, when out of nowhere a transparent snake, like the tiger that attacked Jian before, sprung in front of her and bit her on the neck.  

“Get away from me!” -Yu screamed, as she tried to rip the snake from her neck, but her hands just went through the animal.

The snake’s venom took just a few seconds to take effect. At first, Yu began to feel her hands and feet going numb. She knew the toxins in the snake’s venom were starting to take their toll, and her racing heart was only contributing for them to spread over her system even faster. She tried to calm her heart, so the poison would not act so fast, but that proved to be impossible. The fear inside her just made her heart beat faster, combined with the certainty that she was going to die there, proved to be a deadly combination. Soon, her whole body became numb, and she struggled for air, as her lungs began to shut down. In a matter of seconds, her dead body lied next to that of Jian’s.

If Yu had survived, she would have said that what happened that night and its eventual cover-up, would become one of the greatest mysteries surrounding an archaeological digging site, since the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb. A mystery, which only a handful of people would know the truth about. Plus, if they knew the ancient language that was carved on the stone door, they would have known that in it was written “Beware. Here lies the Collector, a plague on all Mankind.”. The place they had discovered by accident was not a tomb, as they thought, but instead, a prison… a prison destined to one of the most dangerous creatures ever to walk the Earth.    


	2. Rainy Afternoon in Paris

It was a typical January Friday afternoon in Paris. The countdown for the beginning of the weekend had already started. For those who had spent the whole week working, the fact of knowing that two whole days of rest and relaxation awaited them, helped them endure the few hours left until the end of the work week. Even for those who had to work during the weekend, the thought of there being just a couple of more hours until the end of their shift, was quite comforting as well.

The only thing bad about that Friday afternoon was the rain. It was raining cats and dogs, and only those who were forced to be on the streets at that time were there, because those who did not have to be out on the streets were safely indoors. One of those people was none other than young model Adrien Agreste. Because of the rain, the photoshoot he had for that afternoon ended up being rescheduled for the following Tuesday. And that meant, he was stuck at home, with nothing else to do but to watch television or play videogames with his kwami, Plagg, who right then was busy eating another piece of Camembert cheese, stinking up the place. Adrien modelled because of his father, and most of the times, he did not want to do it. But on that particular afternoon, he wished it was not raining, so he could go to that photoshoot. It would be an excuse to not end up locked up in his room.

Looking out the window, he watched the rain dropping. He was not a big fan of rainy days, but he loved the sound of rain, because it reminded him of the time when his mother was still alive. Everytime there was a storm, and he could not sleep, his mother would come to his room and sat by his side, until he fell asleep. After she died, he learned to appreciate the sound of the rain; a sound which reminded him of her.

“What are you thinking about?” –Plagg asked him, breaking Adrien’s train of thought.  

“Nothing really… I was just watching the rain.” –Adrien said.

“Watching the rain?! Who in their right mind likes rain, let alone watching it fall?” –the black cat kwami asked him.

“Well, I do. It reminds me of my mom.” –Adrien told him, as he watched a drop of rain hitting the window, and began to follow it with his eyes.

“It’s not that I don’t think you should think about your mom, but you are half cat nowadays, thanks to me. And us cats, hate rain, just as much as we hate water!” –Plagg declared, as he ate the rest of the cheese he was holding in his hands.

That last comment from Plagg, made Adrien giggle lightly. Plagg’s crazy commentaries always made him feel better when he was feeling down.

“Well, I don’t hate rain, but I can tell you this. I wouldn’t mind that this storm stopped. That way, I could go outside… heck, I know this is going to sound crazy, but I wouldn’t have minded to go to that photoshoot I had scheduled for this afternoon.” –Adrien said. –“At least, I wouldn’t be locked up in here.”

“You can go outside, you know?” –Plagg said, as he went to fetch another piece of Camembert. –“You just have to say the magic words, and I’ll lenf you my powers, so you can go have some fun as Chat Noir.” –he smirked. –“And, let me just point out that I hate rain, and I’m willing to do the ultimate sacrifice, so you can have some fun, because I’m an awesome kwami.”

“Thanks, but I’ll pass.” -Adrien declared.

“Why? Your dad’s out of town and the house staff will only bother you, if it’s an emergency, or if you call them.” -Plagg told him. –“You could go out for a bit, stretch those legs, do a couple of crazy stunts, and then come back the way you went out, without anyone knowing you were out in the rain.” -he smirked, as he pointed at the window.

“I know that, but I don’t want to catch a pneumonia.” –Adrien told him. The idea of being able to run on the rooftops and do a couple of crazy stunts was tempting, but he knew he could not risk getting sick. –“You may be magical, but I don’t think you can protect me from catching a cold or a pneumonia. And it would be hard to explain, how I caught one, when I was supposedly inside my bedroom.” –he pointed out. –“Which reminds me, I never asked you, if you could get sick. Can you get sick?”

“Of course, I can get sick. Like you said, I’m magical, but I can get sick, like every other living being.” –Plagg declared. –“But, unlike most living beings, when a kwami gets sick, you can’t just give him an aspirin and wait for him to get better.” –he explained. –“When that happens, you need to take him to a healer, who can prepare a remedy for the kwami. In this case, if I do get sick, you’ll have to take me to Master Fu. Of course, some chicken soup, or in my case, a Camembert cheese sandwich with a couple of sardines, can speed up the recovery.”

“Something tells me that you’re just coming up with excuses to eat more cheese.” –Adrien joked. –“But, at least now I know what to do if you get sick. Just try not to get sick on purpose, just so you can eat cheese sandwiches. You don’t have to do that, so I can get you one.” –he told Plagg, who was already munching on another piece of Camembert. That made him wonder just how much cheese could that kwami of his eat, without getting sick.

“Hey, I’m a growing kwami.” –Plagg declared, with a smirk on his face.

“Growing kwami? Since when?” –Adrien laughed.

Their conversation was cut short, when they both heard someone knocking at the door. Knowing he could not be seen, Plagg, quickly hid himself under Adrien’s bed. Once he was out of sight, Adrien quickly answreed, by asking who was knocking. It was Nathalie, his dad’s secretary, who answered, asking if he she could enter. Telling her she could, she opened the door and entered. She was carrying in her hands a package.

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything, but this just arrived, and I felt that you would want to have it.” –Nathalie declared, as she handed Adrien the package.   

Wondering what it could be, Adrien noticed the card that was attached to it, where it was written “From Dad.”. Opening it, Adrien saw that it was the videogame he had asked his father for Christmas, but because it was sold out, he could not but it. Still, he had promised Adrien that once it was available, he would get it for him.

“Whoa, I can’t believe it. Dad actually remembered.”

“Of course, he remembered Adrien. You know that despite his work, your father cares about you a lot, and there’s nothing more that he desires, but to see you happy.” –Nathalie told him, with a warm smile on her face.

“I know, I know.” -Adrien told her, as he kept inspecting the game’s backcover. –“I wish he was here right now, so I could thank him.” -he said, with a sad smile on his face. It was times like that, that he wished his dad did not have to go travel so much.

“Well, he’ll be back tomorrow night. You can thank him then. Or, if you prefer, I can always cal him on his cell phone.” -Nathalie suggested.

“No, don’t do that, Nathalie. I’ll just wait for him to come back tomorrow.” -Adrien told her. It was not that he did not like the idea of her calling his father, but Adrien knew that most of the times, he did not like to be interrupted.

“Well, I don’t want to force you into doing anything, but may I make a suggestion?” -Nathalie asked him, and before he could answer, she said; -“Why don’t you thank him, by practicing the piano, and present him with a little concert, tomorrow night?”´

The idea was not bad, but on that afternoon, Adrien’s mind was just not set in practicing the piano. He enjoyed playing it, especially when he had his dad played it together. But practicing it, was just as a boring as doing his homework.  

“I like the idea… but do I really have to practice, Nathalie?”

“You should. You know that your father appreciates when you do it. Not only because he feels that it’s an important part fo your education, but because he also enjoys hearing you play the piano.”

He knew she was not going to let him out of the hook that easily. Still, Adrien had to try and dissuade her. 

“But two hours, as always?” -Adrien asked her. –“Can’t I just practice for 30 minutes, an hour at most? I won’t tell anything to my dad, if you don’t.” -he said.  

“I’m afraid not.” -Nathalie told him. Usually, that would be the end of the conversation. But she knew that one could catch more flies with honey, than with vinegar; and she knew just how to make Adrien do what she wanted. She just had to use her secret weapon, persuasion. –“But, if you practice for two hours, I don’t see why you can’t invite one of your friends to come here and try that new videogame of yours. You could even ask him to stay for dinner.” -she told him, with a warm smile on her face, hoping that would do the trick.

“Really?” -Adrien asked. He was not expecting her to tell him that. It was not often that Nathalie allowed him to have his friends over, when his dad was out of town. –“Okay, I accept it.”

“Good. Now, remember. I want to hear you practice those scales in five minutes, and remember, I can hear quite well.” -Nathalie said, as she turned around and left. That last remark was a warning for Adrien to get to the music room, on the double.   

After Nathalie left, Plagg waited a couple of more seconds, before coming out, from under Adrien’s bed. When he finally felt it was safe to show up again, he dashed towards Adrien, who was still holding the videogame in his hands.

“Sometimes, I get the feeling that she thinks she’s your mom, to boss you around.” -Plagg declared.

“She’s just doing her job, Plagg.” -Adrien said. –“She likes to boss everyone around, to make sure everything my dad says gets done. But, from time to time, she pulls one of these.” -he smiled, as Plagg checked the videogame’s cover.

“Whoa! Mario Kart: Insane Throttle?! Now this is a videogame!” -Plagg exclaimed, as his eyes kept admiring the game’s cover. –“I’m glad your dad got you this! I was already sick of playing the last one.” -he said.

“You’re sick of playing it because you’re always winning me.” -Adrien playfully shot at him, as he placed the videogame on his desk. –“There should be a rule to keep you from using your tail, when handling a joystick.” -he told him.   

“It’s not my fault that I’m so handy with my tail… besides, you know the rules; there are no rules when playing against one another.” -Plagg laughed diabolically, which made Adrien laugh a little. –“So… who are you going to invite? Max? Nino? Please, don’t invite Nino, Adrien. If you do, I’ll have to hear Wayzz quoting Confucius, and you know I can’t stand it, when he does that!” -the black cat kwami begged his holder. Hearing him say those things, people would assume that Plagg did not like Wayzz. But those who knew him well enough, knew that that was his way to talk about people he cared about.

“No, I’m not going to invite Nino over, Plagg. He told me that he was going out with Alya this afternoon. Something about a phot exihibit she wanted to check out.” -Adrien answered him. –“As for Max, he’s not an option. According to what he told Kim, who told me, he was going out of town for the weekend, to go and visit his grandparents.” -he said.  

“Okay… so if you’re not going to invite one of them, who are you going to invite then?” -Plagg asked him, curious, as he went to fetch the last piece of Camembert that was on the plate.

“I was thinkning about inviting Marinette, you know? She loves this kind of games.” -Adrien commented.

“Oh, does this mean you’re finally going to tell her what you feel for her?” -Plagg asked him bluntly.

“Plagg…”

“You’re not going to say “She’s just a friend, Plagg”, are you? Because if you say that sentence, I’m going to say that you’re the lousiest liar, ever! And believe me, I’ve knoen some pretty bad liars over the millennium.” -Plagg raised his eyebrow.

“No, I was not going to say that. I was just going to say that… well, I was going to say that you know that I’m shy. I know that I don’t look like I’m a shy person, but I am… especially when I’m around Marinette.” -Adrien sighed.

“That’s not an excuse, Adrien.” -Plagg sighed. –“I mean, you like her, and I bet that she also likes you. You spend half the time flirting with her, when you’re Chat Noir, and she flirts back at you.”

“And that’s just the thing, Plagg. She likes me when I’m Chat Noir and she’s Ladybug.” -Adrien declared. –“When we’re transformed, I feel that there’s chemistry between us, but…”

“But you think that she won’t like you, when you’re just plain old Adrien, is that it?” -Plagg asked him, to which Adrien waved his head. –“That’s just craziness, Adrien. I usually don’t give advices for free… but since you got me that delicious Camembert, I’m going to tell you something. You can’t talk about Chat Noir like he’s someone else. You and Chat Noir are the same person. The only difference is in your clothes, because other than that, you’re the same person.” -the black cat kwami told him. –“If she likes you, which I think she does, then it doesn’t matter if you’re wearing plain old clothes, or leather! She’ll like you for you.”

Adrien, who was not accostumed to hear Plagg say such serious things, was actually surprised by it. The words he told him were filled with wisdom, and the more he repeated them in his mind, the more they made sense.

“Whoa… I guess it’s not just Wayzz who knows how to give wisdom speeches.” -Adrien smiled at his kwami.

“Hey, don’t spread it! I got a reputation to keep, you know?” -Plagg said playfully.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.” -Adrien smiled. –“But you are right. If she likes me, she’ll like me for me, just as much as she likes me when I’m Chat Noir.”

“So, does that mean you’re finally going to ask her out?” -Plagg insisted on the matter.

“We’ll see, Plagg. First, I have to ask her if she wants to come over.” -Adrien said. –“And I won’t be able to do that, if I don’t get to practice my scales.” –he declared, as he readied to go to the music room. –“You coming?”

“Me? Forget it! I’ve got a date with another delicious Camembert chesse I spotted in the pantry.” -Plagg playfully stated.

* * *

At the same time, at the Dupain-Cheng residence things were blustering. At least, down at the bakery they were, where Tom and Sabine had their hands full with all the customers. They did not have that much movement, since the last few days before Christmas Eve, the previous month. It seemed like the rain and the cold wind had attracted the customers to the bakery, where it was warm and toasty. On that day, the thing that was selling like hot cakes were the croissants. After she ended answering a customer, Sabine quickly went to the kitchen, to see how things were going, since Tom should have brought another batch of croissants a few minutes prior. 

“Tom, honey, are the croissants ready?”

“Not yet, honey. They still need a couple of more minutes in the oven. But you can take the bagels with you. Watch out, the tin is still hot.” -Tom warned her.

While this happened, upstairs in Marinette’s room, Tikki was busy watrching one of the many movies Marinette had in her laptop. After going through all the movies in the hard drive, she found one that caught her attention… Back to the Future. She did not know what it was about, but the title looked interesting. It was only a matter of seconds, before her eyes were glued to the screen. But what she liked the most about it, was the music. She was in love with the film’s soundtrack.

As she did this, Marinette was finishing taking a shower. After spending what looked like an eternity doing her homework, the blue-haired girl was exhausted. And if there was one thing she knew, was that in rainy days like that one, the best thing to relax and fight off a possible cold, was a hot steamy shower. Getting out of the tub, she put on her bathrobe and then quickly dried her hair, arranging it in her usual style. Over the years, Marinette had several hairstyles, but her current one was the one she liked the most. She did not know if it was the fact that she liked to see herself wearing pitgtails, or if it was because it was a hairstyle that took her just a couple of minutes to do. Eitherway, she liked it, and she believed she rocked that hairstyle.

“There… perfect.” -Marinette said, as she finished styling her hair. Looking in the mirror, she could not help but to smile at the result. She looked like her usual perky self.

Exiting the bathroom, she quickly replaced her bathrobe with some underwear, before once again looking at herself in the mirror. Over the course of the months since she had become Ladybug, she, like her friends, had noticed her body changing little by little. Every trace of baby fat she had was gone. She had well-defined and toned muscles, which she was proud of.

“ _Well, I’m not Miss Universe material, but I don’t look half-bad. Not half-bad at all._ ” -Marinette thought to herself, as she examined her arms. –“ _Plus, because of my powers I can eat all I want, without gaining a single pound, and I don’t have to go to the gym to keep this figure._ ” -she giggled.

But the best part of her well-toned body, were her girly abs, which she loved and looked great on the photos, when she was wearing her Ladybug outfit.  Giggling to herself, she played the drums on her abdomen, before choosing what she was going to wear that afternoon. Since the house was quite warm, she opted for a pair of blue training pants, a matching t-shirt with a picture of Jagged Stone on it, and her bedroom slippers. 

“Stuck in 1955, Tikki?” – Marinette joked, as she sat at the desk.  

“Uh?! Oh, yes, Marinette.” -Tikki said, as she snapped back at reality. She was so into the movie, she did not even hear Marinette approaching. –“It’s a really great movie.”

“I’m not much of a fan of sci-fi movies, unless you count Star Wars and Star Trek, of course.” -Marinette told her. –“But this movie… I don’t know, there’s something about it that makes it special.” -she said.

“I’m enjoying watching it… I especially like the main characters.” -Tikki said. –“That Marty is really funny, even when he doesn’t want to to be funny.” -she giggled.

“Well, then you’re going to love to see what he does in part 2 and part 3.” -Marinette told her.

“There are more movies?!” -Tikki asked, surprised.

“Yes, Tikki. And if Max, or Kim were here they would be babbling about just how cool the whole trilogy is.” -Marinette laughed. –“Especially Max. You know that one of his dreams is to actually drive the Delorean Time Machine?”

“I can imagine him saying that to Ari.” -Tikki giggled, imagining the conversation between Max and his kwami. –“Do you want watch it with me?”

“Well, I’m not in the mood to do anything this afternoon. Not even drawing or sewing, so I guess, I’ll join you.” -Marinette smiled. –“But before that, we’re going to need one thing… snacks.” -she declared.

“Oh, yes! Could you get me some of those gingerbread cookies your dad made during the holidays?” -Tikki asked her. She loved all kinds of cookies, but those particular ones, were by far her favourites, ever since Marinette had become her holder.

“I’m afraid we’re out of those, Tikki.” -Marinette told her, making Tikki’s smile disappear instantly Looking at her sad face, Marinette felt guilty about eating the very last gingerbread cookie the night before. –“But don’t worry, I’m sure we have those chocolate chip cookies you like so much.” -she suggested her.

“Alright. Could you get me a plate of them?” -Tikki asked her.

“And a glass of milk to go with it?”

“Yes!”

“Okay, cookies and milk for you. As for me, I think I’m going to do one of my world-famous sandwiches, and grab a Pepsi, which by the way is Marty’s favourite drink in the movie.” -Marinette declared.

“I thought he liked Diet Pepsi.” -Tikki commented on the fact.

“And he does, but we don’t have any, so it’ll be just regular Pepsi for me.” -Marinette joked about it.

She was just about to get the snacks for her and Tikki, when the movie freezes and she sees a window on the screen, telling her that someone was calling her by Skype. When she saw who was calling her, Marinette’s jaw practically dropped. It was Chloe. She did not even remember she had her on her Skype contacts, so when she saw her name, it came as a shock. She had never gotten a Skype call from Chloe, so she wondered why she was doing it, instead of using her cell phone.

“ _Could there be an akuma attack? But if so, why she didn’t call me on my cell phone? She knows that I always carry it around with me._ ” -Marinette asked herself.

“Aren’t you going to answer her, Marinette?” -Tikki asked her.

 “Uh, yeah… of course, Tikki.” -Marinette said, as she snapped back at reality.

Answering it, Marinette was surprised for the second time in mere seconds. To her surprise, Chloe was not wearing her usual clothes, but instead, she was wearing her Queen Bee outfit. Seeing that, Marinette feared the worse was happening.

“Chloe?! What’s going on?! Do we have a new akuma attacking the city?!” -Marinette asked her, and for a split second, she could not help but to feel like one of the kids in a Lassie movie, when they asked her what was going on.

“Oh, hey, Marinette!” -Chloe casually waved at her. –“An akuma? Not that I know of.”

“Then, why are you calling me through Skype? And better yet, why are you transformed into Queen Bee?” -Marinette asked her, puzzled about all that.

“Oh, this! It’s a funny story behind it, you know?” -Chloe kept talking in the most casual way possible. –“You see, I was watching a video on Youtube where they analyse our team’s powers, abilities and attacks…”

Marinette kept hearing Chloe, wondering what was really going on. Even though their relationship had improved ever since they had gained their miraculous, and Chloe tried her best to become a better person and a better friend to everyone, she sometimes still had the gift of making people lose their patience. And right then, when she began to talk about herself and just how great people thought Queen Bee was and all, she was beginning to get on Marinette’s nerves, though she was determined not to show it.

“… and well, when they analysed your shield attack, you know, the one you do with your yo-yo?” -Chloe finally asked her.

“Yes, so?”

“Well, they asked why Queen Bee couldn’t do the same thing with her trompo, since both weapons are so alike?” -Chloe told her. –“And that’s when I began thinking that maybe I could actually do it. If so, I would have a new attack and I could help you and Nino, when there’s need for a good defense.” -she went on. –“So I transformed and tried to do that attack with my trompo, but everytime I try it, I either end up smashing something or hitting my head. I was wondering, if you could teach me how to do it, or at least, give me a couple of pointers on how to do the trick?”

Hearing her say that last sentence, Marinette’s jaw almost dropped a second time. Chloe Bourgeois, the very same Chloe Bourgeois who in the past saw herself as better than anyone else, and whom Marinette hated, was now humbly asking her for help? In her head, the blue-haired girl kept repeating what she had just heard, over and over.

“Help? You need my help?” -Marinette asked her, just to make sure she had heard it right, the first time.

“Yes.”

For years Marinette had wondered what it would feel like if Chloe would one day ask her for help, and she would say no, just to pay her back for all the mean things she had said and did, not just to her, but everyone else. She had imagined how great it would feel to have her begging for help, and she would just dismiss her and tell her that maybe she should have been nicer to her. But now that they were friends, and Marinette had decided to just put the past behind her, those thoughts were nothing more than a bad memory, which she would rather forget about. Smiling tenderly, she was happy to hear Chloe asking her for help.

“Sure, I can help you.” -Marinette kept smiling at Chloe. –“First things first, try and do the shield attack for me.”  

It did not long for Marinette to understand what Chloe was doing wrong. Guiding her, Marinette told her what to do, and what not to do. Initially, Chloe was a bit relunctant to comply with what she was told, maybe out of stubbornness, or maybe because she was tired of hitting herself on the head. Marinette even had to hold her laugh a couple of times, just to not start laughing at Chloe everytime she hit herself on the head with her trompo. But after a little bit, she began to hear Marinette’s instructions, and thinks started to go her way. In the end, after nearly half an hour, she was able to pull out the shield attack with her trompo, though she and Marinette knew she still needed a lot of practice to improve it.   

“Just keep practicing and you’ll get the hang of it.” -Marinette incentivated her. –“You’re starting to get hang of it.”  -she told her.

“You think so?”

“I know so. Trust me, it wasn’t easy for me to get the hang of that trick. But once I understood that it was all in the wrist, the rest became easy. You’ll also get there.” -Marinette declared.

“Thanks, Marinette. But I guess I had enough practice for today. I’m going to turn back into my old self, and I’m going to fetch Pollen something sweet. She deserves it.” -Chloe said. –“Thanks again for helping me out. See you on Monday!” -she waved at her, as she ended the call.

For the next couple of seconds, there was the most surrealistic silence filling Marinette’s room. The blue-haired girl was still a little bit shocked with what had happened. Never she thought the day when Chloe Bourgeois, her former rival and bully, would come to ask her nicely for help. It was Tikki, who had been silent during the whole thing who broke the silence that was filling the room.

“Marinette? Marinette, are you okay?”

“W-What? Oh, yes, I’m fine, Tikki. I was just thinking.” -Marinette told her.

“About what?” -the kwami asked her, curious.

“About Chloe… I never thought that one day she would ask me for help.” -Marinette answered her.

“And aren’t you happy?” -Tikki asked her.

“I am… but the thing is; well, you should have met Chloe when was her old self. Nobody, but nobody, except maybe Sabrina, could bear with her attitude and her overall arrogance.” -Marinette told Tikki. –“It feels strange to see her act nicely towards everyone, including me, who she was constantly insulting and bullying just because she her dad was the Mayor.” -she sighed.

“Well, then it’s a good thing she isn’t like that anymore, right?”

“It is… although, she still has that lousy habit of when she starts talking about herself, she manages to describe herself as perfect, when compared to the others.” -Marinette smiled to Tikki. –“But, let’s just forget about that. I’m just happy that I was able to help her out.” -she said. –“Now, how about I go and get those snacks, so we can watch the rest of the movie?”

But once again, she was interrupted, this time by her cell phone. Picking it up, she saw Adrien’s name on the screen, and immediately she began to panic. She wanted to answer Adrien’s call, but something in her brain prevented her from doing it so. Once more, her anxiety regarding Adrien was getting the best of her. Still, she was not going to let her anxiety get the best of her this time. Closing her eyes for just a second, she then took two deep breaths, and forced her brain to ignore every anxiety warning it was giving her. She was determined to answer the call and act like it was nothing special about it.

“H-Hello?” -Marinette said, stuttering nervously.

“Marinette?”

“A-Adrien! S-So, how’s it going?” -Marinette asked him with a voice that sounded more like a crazy version of her voice, instead of her usual voice. –“Stupid! Stupid! What kind of question was that?! Adrien is going to think that you’re weird! Then again, what was I suppose to ask him?!” -she thought to herself, as she kept cursing herself.

“I-I’m okay, thank for asking.” -Adrien told her. He was a little nervous, though because of her own nervousness, Marinette had not notice it. –“So… what about you? How are you since this morning?”

“Oh, I’m f-fine… just peachy!” -Marinette exclaimed, as her nerves started to get the best of her. –“S-So, what’s shaking?” -she asked him, before berating herself mentally once more. –“ _What’s shaking?! Oh, come on, Marinette! If you keep talking like you’re in a sitcom, Adrien is going to think you’re crazy or that you’re mocking him!_ ” -she cursed herself mentally.

“N-Nothing much really. I called you because my dad offered me a new game, and I was wondering if you’d like to come over and try it?” -Adrien asked her.

“R-Really?! Sure, I’d love to!” -Marinette exclaimed –“I mean, if my parents let me, which I think they will, I’d be happy to spend the afternoon playing with you… playing the videogame with you, I mean!” -she practically screamed the last bit, after realizing what she had just said and how bad it sounded.

“Okay. Ask them if you could stay for dinner. My dad won’t becoming back, until tomorrow night, so if you’d want to, you could stay a little longer.” -Adrien said. –“Hope that didn’t sound too creepy. The last thing I need is for her to think that I’m a creep.” -he thought to himself, as he realized that his nerves, we’re starting to get the better of him.  

“Having dinner with Adrien?! Just the two of us?! Oh my God! If this is a dream, don’t wake me up, please!” -Marinette thought to herself. –“Sure, I’ll tell them, but I’m sure they won’t mind.” -she told him.

“Okay, then. I’ll ask my chauffeur to go get you in 30 minutes. Is that okay with you?”

“O-Of course. See you in a bit!” -Marinette exclaimed, ending the call, while turning her attention to Tikki, who had been listening to the whole thing. –“Tikki, Adrien just asked me to dinner! I mean, he invited me over to play this new game his dad bought him, while staying for dinner, but who cares! Do you know what this means?!”

“That you’re going to Adrien’s?” -Tikki asked her bluntly.

“Yes!!!” -Marinette exclaimed, as the smile on her face broadned by the minute. –“Oh, wait! I’ve got to ask my parents if I can go, and I have to change!” -she exclaimed, as she panicked.

Seeing her acting like a headless chicken, Tikki giggled to herself, thinking that no matter what, Marinette would never change; at least, when it came to the boy of her dreams.

“ _Guess we’ll just have to watch the rest of the movie and eat those snacks, some other time._ ” -Tikki thought to herself.  


	3. Love Under the Rain

The rain kept falling hard, as Rose’s ballet class came to an end. Like always, her teacher praised all the students for their work, and told them they were progressing quite well. And like always, the blonde felt exhausted, though in a good way. She loved every minute she spent in those classes, because it gave her the chance to shine by doing what she like to do most in the world, dance. Plus, it made her feel good about herself. The closest she would ever get to feel like that outside those classes, was when she transformed into Flamingo to battle against one of Hawk moth’s akumas, or when she was with Juleka. And on that afternoon, she was going to experience that same feeling again, when seeing Juleka waiting for her. The two had decided to spends the rest of the afternoon together, once Rose’s ballet class ended.

She had just finished showering, when she got a text from Juleka, saying that she was waiting for her outside. Smiling, she quickly dried herself up and put on her clothes, while making sure she did not forget a thing; and even if by chance she would forget something, her kwami, Flint, would quickly warn her. The flamingo kwami had gotten used to waiting for Rose’s ballet classes to end, by entertaining himself with one of the many game apps the blonde had in her cell phone. And on that day, he had beaten his personal score in Candy Crush, which he kept telling Rose, as she walked towards the exit.

“You should have seen me, Rose! I crushed my personal best! Get it? Crushed, because it’s Candy Crush?!” -Flint let out a laugh from inside Rose’s pochette. –“Look, I know you want to see your girlfriend and all, but could you at least laugh at one of my jokes, while you’re walking?” -he asked her, after she seemingly ignoring his speech.

“Sorry, but Juleka’s outside in the rain, waiting for me. I don’t want her to catch a cold because I took too much time getting ready.” -Rose told him, as she began to go down the stairs.

“She won’t catch one, if she’s smart and put on some warm clothes, like you did.” -Flint told her. –“Besides, she’s your girlfriend. If she catches a cold because of you, you could always tell her that she caught it for love!” -he joked.

Flint’s sense of humour could be sarcastic, dark, dry, and so many other things. And Rose was still getting used to it. When she thought that Flint could not have more kinds of humour in him, he would surprise her by throwing at her a joke, based on a previously unseen kind of humour. But right then, she did not care about it. All she wanted was to see Juleka and give her a big hug. To her surprise, the Goth girl was not outside waiting for her, but instead, she was in the building’s lobby, waiting for her, with a cute smile on her face.

“Took you long enough.” -Juleka smiled to her.

“Sorry.” -the blonde told her.

“It’s okay, Rose.” -Juleka kept smiling at her. –“What matters is that you’re finally here.” -she said, as she warmly hugged her. She wanted to give her a big kiss, but knew that to keep their relationship a secret, she would have to wait a little longer, when they would be alone.

“Sorry again. I promise next time I’ll try to not take so long getting ready.” -Rose said.

“I told you, Rose, it’s okay.” -Juleka kept reassuring her of that fact.  

As they stepped outside, the freezing wind made it difficult for them to open their umbrellas. When Juleka failed to open hers, Rose tried to open hers instead, but was forced to close it back again, out of fear the wind would break it. With no sign of the rain stopping, the girls decided to make a run towards the nearest underground station. Once they spotted it, they ran as fasr as they could, with Juleka almost slipping and spraining her ankle. Luckily, Rose was by her side and grabbed her by the arm, before she ended up on the floor. Once out of the rain, the two let out a couple of laughs, which blended with the unmistakable sounds of the underground.

“That was a close one.” -the blonde commented.

“I know. I need to be more careful where I step.” -Juleka declared. –“I don’t know about you, but I haven’t seen this much rain in quite a while.” -she told Rose.

“Me neither. It’s almost as if St. Peter decided we needed an extra shower.” -Rose joked about it. –“So, where do you want to go?” -Rose asked her. They had agreed that on that afternoon, Juleka would get to decide where they would go after Rose’s ballet classes ended.

“Well, before the rain started, I thought that we could go either to that café you like so much in Montmartre, or, if you weren’t in the mood for that, we could go for a walk by the Seine.” -Juleka told her. –“But given this rain, I thought that we could just go to my place and stay there. My parents won’t come back until later at night, and Luka went to play in a café-concert, saying that he would spend the night at a friend’s place, so we have place just for ourselves.” -she said, speaking the last bit of that sentence in a low, almost seductive voice.

“Sounds great to me.” -Rose smiled. The idea of having the place just for the two of them, meant that they could snuggle together while watching a movie in Juleka’s bedroom, and if they wanted to share a couple of kisses, there was no one to stop them from doing it.  –“Plus, I hope you have ingredients for a chocolate cake recipe I found a couple of days, and that I’ve been dying to try.” -she said. Not many people knew that Rose also loved to cook, and she tended to make some of the best brownies in Paris.

“I think that can be arranged.” -Juleka told her. She was not a very big fan of sweets, but from time to time, she too loved a couple of sweets. And when they were done either by Marinette or Rose, they tasted even sweeter. –“My mom went shopping a few days ago, so I think we’ll have everything we need for that cake of yours.” -she smiled.

“I bet you and Tamara are also going to love it, Flint.” -Rose told her kwami, who once again, was too busy playing Candy Crush. –“By the way, I haven’t seen or heard Tamara yet. She’s not with you?” -she asked her.

“No. I told her she could stay home, while I came picking you up.” -Juleka answered her. –“She still said, she didn’t mind coming, but I told her she didn’t have to come. She was so entertained hearing one of my Evanescence CD’s.”

“She loves that kind of songs, doesn’t she?”-Rose asked her.

“She does. She’s a bit like you, you know? No one would ever guess that you would also love alternative music… that, and that you have the perfect voice to sing rock, punk and metal.” -Juleka told her. She still remembered the first time she heard Rose singing. It was during one of the school’s festivals, and Alix had challenged her to sing a song on the karaoke stand. She sang so well, that her class mates decided to see what else she could sing. She sang about six different songs, before Kim, being himself, decided to play a prank on Rose, by requesting that she would sing Metallica’s Master of Puppets, thinkning that she was not going to be able to sing it properly. To his, and everyone else’s surprise, not only she knew the lyrics by heart, she also sang it, without missing a beat. –“One of these days, if I decide to put together a rock band, I already decided that you’ll be our lead singer.”

“Thanks, Juleka.” -Rose said, blushing lightly.

* * *

Opening the building’s door, both girls were glad to be out of the rain. Having been forced to run under the rain for a couple of seconds, they were both drenched. But none of them cared about it. It was just water, and they would be able to dry themselves. Once they arrived at Juleka’s home, they found Tamara still listening to the very same record the Goth had left playing for her. She was so mesmerized by the songs, she only noticed her holder had arrived, when she opened the bedroom door, startling her.

“I’m back.” -Juleka said, as she dropped her things and went to get some towels.

“Hey, Tamara!” -Rose said, as she entered Juleka’s room. Noticing Flint had not said a word, she decided to make him say something, by taking her cell phone from him. –“Come on, Flint, enough playing videogames. Say hello to Tamara.” -she told him, as she placed her cell phone in her back pocket.

“Hello…” -Flint said, as he stuck his head out of the pochette.

“Hello, Flint.” -Tamara waved at the flamingo kwami, as she made her way to Rose and kissed her on the cheek. –“He’s in a grouchy mood, isn’t he?” –she asked the blonde.

“He’s just annoyed that I prevented him from beating yet another score.”-Rose giggled.

“I was this close to beating the European champion’s best, Rose!” -Flint told her, absolutely annoyed. –“You could’ve at least let me save the game!” -he shot at her.

“Oh, don’t be like that. There’s always next time.” -Rose told him, as Juleka came back with the towels and gave her one. –“Thanks.” -she said, as she grabbed the towel and dried herself. –“I don’t know about you, but I think that if it keeps raining like that, I might have to ask my mom or my dad to come and pick me up.”

“I’m sure it’ll stop.” -Juleka said, as she dried her hair. –“Besides, you don’t need to ask them to come and pick you up. You can just transform into Flamingo and get home a jiffy.” -she reminded her.

“Oh, yeah, you’re right!” -Rose giggled. –“I keep forgetting I can do that. Years of not having a kwami to lend you a hand when you need the most, can do that to you.” -she joked, making Juleka also giggle.  

Finished drying themselves, the girls went to the kitchen to get the cake started, and Rose made sure that Flint came with her.

“Come on, Flint, let’s go! You and Tamara can also help us with that chocolate cake we’re going to make.” -she said, as she grabbed him with both her hands, forcing him to come with her.  

“ _I’d rather get back to the game instead._ ” -Flint thought to himself.

“You’re sure your mom won’t mind if I use the ingredients to bake a cake?” -Rose asked Juleka, as she entered the kitchen. It was not the first time she cooked at her girlfriend’s place, but the other times, Juleka’s parents, or the very least, her brother Luka was present.

“Of course not. If anything, she’ll ask you for the recipe.” -Juleka assured her.

“You’re saying that, by assuming the cake will come out good.” -Rose told her.

“And it will, Rose. You’re the best baker I know, right after Marinette and her parents.” -Juleka told her, as she placed her arms around Rose’s neck, pulling the blonde towards her, until their faces were just inches away from one another. –“Besides, if the cake turns out as delicious as your lips are, I might end up eating it all myself.” -she said, just before she planted a kiss on Rose’s beautiful lips.

“You’re making me blush, you know?” -Rose told her, before returning the kiss.  

“Good, because I’m supposed to be the one with pale complexion in this relationship.” -Juleka joked, making Rose giggle lightly.

After sharing a couple more kisses, which earned a few disgusted faces from Flint, who was starting to behave a little more like his usual jokester self, Rose and Juleka went into the kitchen to get the baking done. Looking up the recipe she found online in her cell phone, it was only a matter of seconds for her to find it. While they searched for the ingredients, Rose could not help but to remember the first time Juleka invited her to her place. Being new to the school, Juleka had difficulties in making friends, because of her style. Rose was the first one to befriend her, not caring about how she dressed. To thank her for being her friend, Juleka invited her to listen to music at her place. Following her, Rose was surprised when Juleka stopped in front of a barge and went aboard it. She really thought that her new friend lived in a boat, as she also hopped aboard. It was only when she was aboard that Juleka told her that that barge was actually her mom’s art studio. She also told her that in there, they could hear music as loud as they want and that no one would come complain about it, unlike in the building she havd moved in, where the neighbours would complain if one would dare to turn on the music a little bit louder. Hearing her say that, Rose giggled and told Juleka that she had actually thought she lived in the barge, making her also giggle about it. That one was one of the fondest and funniest memories Rose had of her best friend/girlfriend, and every time she went to her place, she would remember it.

“You’re remembering about it, aren’t you?” -Juleka asked, her voice bringing Rose’s mind out of the clouds.

“A-About what?” -Rose asked, a little bit startled. That special memory had made her forget what she was doing, for a moment.

“About the time you thought my family and I lived in my mom’s studio barge.” -Juleka smiled at her, as she took the flour from the cupboard. –“If you’re going to ask, I noticed that every time you think about it, you do this thing with your eyebrows,” -the Goth girl mimicked the gesture. 

“I was, I admit it.” -Rose smiled. –“I don’t know why, but every time I come here, that memory just pops up in my head.” -she admitted.

“I think it means I did quite an impression on you that day.” -Juleka declared.  

“You did, believe me.” -Rose giggled. –“I don’t know why, but on that day, something inside me, told me that we were going to be best friends forever.” -she sighed happily, as Juleka handed several bowls, along with a silicon spatula and a balloon whisk.

“I would be lying if I said the opposite.” -Juleka admitted, as she went to get the chocolate bars they needed from the pantry. –“But, I’m glad we were both brave enough to admit our true feelings for one another, and became more than just friends.” -she said.

“Me too.” -Rose sighed, while trying not to shed a tear. Every time she remembered the night when she and Juleka became a couple, her heart skipped a beat, and she just wanted to cry out of happiness.

“Can you girls get even more lovey-dovey? Because I think that not everyone in Paris is feeling sick, from seeing you being like that to one another.” –Flint said, as he pretended to be nauseous, only for Tamara to hit him on the back of the neck. –“Ouch!”

“It’s like they say, if you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything at all.” -Tamara told him, making Rose and Juleka laugh.     

Taking their time, the girls and their kwamis baked the cake, following the recipe, which ended up taking a little less chocolate than it was supposed to, because both Rose and Juleka, with a little help from Flint and Tamara, ended up eating half of it. After placing the cake in the oven, Juleka grabbed a chicken shaped timer and set it to go off 30 minutes from then. That left the girls with a little time in their hands, and they decided to make the most of it. Going to Juleka’s room, they crashed on the bed, snuggling against one another, while listening to music. As for Flint and Tamara, they stayed in the kitchen, so they could lick the remaining cake batter from the mixing bowl and from the spatula, while also giving the girls some privacy.

Juleka had selected something they both loved to hear when they were together, Versailles. It was Rose, who in the previous year, got Juleka hooked on the Japanese rock band, and since they had begun to date, when they wanted to snuggle together, they put it on. That afternoon’s choice was Rose’s favourite song from the band, Serenade. As the music filled the room, it created the perfect mood for the two of them to start flirting with one another.  

“You know what I like the most, when it’s just the two of us like this?” -Juleka asked Rose, as she kissed her forehead.

“What?” -Rose asked, as she continued to smiled tenderly at her girlfriend.

“I love to hear you breathe, while I caress your hair, like this.” -Juleka admitted, as she ran her fingertips over Rose’s delicate blonde hair, amking her giggle. –“I also love to hear your heart beating.” -she said, as she placed her left hand over Rose’s chest.

“And do you know what I like the most when it’s just the two of us?” -Rose said, as she placed her arm around Juleka’s waist. –“It’s that I have you all to myself… which means, I can cover you with kisses and smooches.” -she said playfully, as she began to kiss her on the lips, and then slowly kissing her down her neck, tickling her.

The girls were pretty shy and introvert on a regular basis. It was only when they transformed into Flamingo and Corbeau Noire, or when they were alone that they became bolder, with a little dash of sassness to them. And right then, they were being exactly what they were not most of the times. But they were soon interrupted, when someone suddenly opened the bedroom door, startling the girls. Standing by the door jamb was a boy with aqua eyes and medium-length black with dyed teal blue tips, sporting a sky-blue jacket with a navy-blue hoodie underneath, s white shirt with a black Jagged Stone imprint, black jeans ripped at the knee and a pair of black Converse All’s; Juleka’s older brother, Luka.

“Oops, sorry I interrupted you girls.” -Luka said, apologizing for interrupting them. –“I thought you were alone, and well… anyways, I came to ask you if I can borrow your guitar? I broke one of the chords of mine, and in the music store they told me they were out of the brand I usually buy, so I remembered to come and ask you if I could borrow yours?” -he explained to her. –“So, can I borrow it? I promise I’ll treat it as if she was my own.”

Juleka silently nodded, as he entered in her room, and grabbed the guitar, which was leaning against the wardrobe. The girls stood still, as he did this, while at the same time, the song that was playing ended. The whole scene felt like something out of a mystery novel, when the hero is surprised by someone, while doing something he should not be doing. With the guitar in his possession, he waved them both goodbye and walked out, only for him to turn back and contribute to that already surrealistic scene one more time, by saying:

“Oh, and by the way, Jules, you’ve got great taste. And, so do you, Rose. I bet my sister is a wonderful girlfriend. You both make a really cute couple.” -Luka told them. –“I guess mom owes me 20 euros. I told her that you were into girls, sis, and that’s fine by me.” -he smiled, as he left. –“Save me a slice of that chocolate cake you’re making, by the way. It smells really good. See you later!”

After he went out, the girls stood in silence, not knowing what to say about what happened. From the two of them, it was Rose who broke the silence.

“Did your brother just entered your room, saw us kissing and told us he’s okay with us dating each other?” -Rose asked Juleka, practically whispering the words. –“And if so, please tell me I did not imagine it.”   

“He did.”-Juleka said, as her mind processed the whole thing. When she began to date Rose, she knew she was going to have to tell her parents and her brother, sooner or later, and she had imagined how she was going to tell them.

Every scenario she had come up with in her head, none of them had her older brother finding out about it, before she told him the truth. But she was not worried about it. Juleka knew her brother too well, to know that he would say a word about the matter to her parents, before she could. And she also knew that he would not comment the subject with anyone else. He was the kind of person who would take a secret to his grave, if asked to so.   

“I just realized something. Your brother needs to learn to knock at the door, before entering.” -Rose joked about it.

Hearing her say that, Juleka looked Rose in the eyes with a very serious look, only for that look to melt away, as she began to laugh. Seeing her laughing, the blonde also began to laugh, and soon, they were both laughing in chorus over what had happened. Their kwamis, who hid themselves in the kitchen, when they heard Luka coming in, showed up, wondering what was going on. Seeing his holder laughing like a maniac, Flint asked what was going on.

“What? What did we lose?!” -Flint asked the girls, who kept on laughjing like crazy. –“Why are you two laughing like that? Could someone tell me why are they laughing like that?!” -he turned to Tamara, who could not help but to smile.

* * *

The breaks from bus 83 shrieked, when this one stopped at the bus stop near the end of Rue Dauphine, to allow a couple of passengers to exit. Among them were Alya Cesaire and Nino Lahife. Opening her umbrella, Alya told her boyfriend to get under it, as they exited the bus. Their destination was the Mizen Gallery, where the newest photo exhibit from Vincent Aza was on temporary display. Alya was not the biggest fan of photography, but she was a huge fan of Jagged Stone, who was the subject of Aza’s latest photo work, and had convinced Nino to come with her to see it.

“I know I already said this like a thousand times since we left my place, but thanks for coming with me, Nino.” -Alya told him, as they walked down the street, trying to avoid every single water puddle.

“Hey, what are boyfriends for, huh?” -Nino smiled at her. –“Besides, I had nothing to do this afternoon.” -he said.

His face could fool a person, but not his voice. Alya knew there was something up with him, since the moment they left her place. She did not know what exactly was, but she knew it could not be something good. She knew him too well to know that.

“Nino, what have I told you about being honest?” -she asked him.

“What are you talking about, Alya?” -Nino asked her, trying to sound as he usually did.

“Don’t pretend like you don’t know what I’m talking about.” -Alya told him in a serious tone. –“I recognize that tone of voice. You do it, whenever something doesn’t go your way, hun.” -she said, this time in a gentler and sweeter voice. –“Now, tell me, what’s going on?”

There was no point in trying to fool her. Being the aspiring reporter, she was, Alya knew how to read a person, especially if that person was her friend, or in this case, her boyfriend.

“Alright, fine, I admit it.” -Nino sighed. –“Don’t take this wrong way, but, I’m not exactly thrilled to attend this event.”

“What do you mean?” -Alya asked him.  

“Well, when you told me that you wanted to go to a photo exhibit about Jagged Stone, I said it would be cool.” -Nino told her. –“But then, I went online to check out the place it was taking place, and I saw that it was in one of the city’s swankiest and poshest… I don’t even know if I’m pronouncing that last one right, galleries.” -he said. –“A place like that is bound to be filled with people who

That comment of his made Alya smile, just before she bursted into laughs, much to Nino’s surprise, who did not understand that reaction of hers.

“How can you say that?” -Alya said, while laughing. –“The way you’re talking about it, you make it sound like we’re attending a super posh and snobbish party, Nino.” -she giggled.

“And isn’t it supposed to be?” -Nino asked, puzzled.

“If it was, would I be wearing my regular clothes… or better yet, wouldn’t I have told you to get dressed in your finest suit?” -the brunette asked him.

“Well, now that you say that… but still, this place looks…”

“Fancy? It’s supposed to be fancy, but believe me, the place is going to be packed with lots of people, and none of them are exactly high society members, or anything.” -Alya joked, as they began to catch sight of the gallery. –“And if you don’t believe me, just wait a couple of seconds.”

As they arrived, they saw that the place was as chic as one could be. It was the kind fo place that most people would not be caught in, afraid that they might have to pay, just from looking at things. But, unlike what Nino thought, the people that were at the gallery’s entrance were not wearing haute couture designer dresses, or tuxedos. They would not even be practical, given the rain that kept falling. Instead, the people attending the event were mostly wearing casual clothes, and looked as ordinary as Alya or him. Seeing this, he felt pretty silly, for thinking such crazy things.  

“See? There aren’t people with swanky dresses, or posh attitudes. Just oedinary people, some of them soaking wet from the rain, here to see a photo exhibit, like us.” -Alya said, giggling.    

“There’s nothing ordinary about you, Alya.” -Nino told her, winking his eye at her, amking her giggle even louder.

“If that’s your way to say “I’m sorry I thought you were taking me to an event, where I would feel out of place, even though I would be with you, the girl I love the most”, then I accept your apologies.” -Alya smirked, winking back at Nino, who smiled.

“Well… let’s just say it is.” -Nino smiled, as he kissed her. –“So, shall we go in, milady?” -he asked her, as he extended his hand at her.

“Shall.” -Alya giggled.   

Once inside, they saw just how large the exhibit was, and how many people were attending it. The place was packed, and many more wanted to enter the gallery to see the exhibit. The photos in display were captivating, but they were not the main attraction. No, the main attraction was the photographer, Vincent Aza, whom when Alya and Nino entered, was giving an interview to none other than Nadja Chamack. Aza loved to shoot anyone he deemed eas worthy of his lense, but he also loved to be in the spotlight, and if anything, his grin was proof of it. 

“And we’re here at the Mizen Gallery with the famous Parisian photographer Vincent Aza, at the opening of his latest photo exhibit, tittled “

“First of all, good evening, Nadja. It’s always a pleasure to be interviewed by you. My best work ever? No… I can’t say that it’s my best. If anything, it’s my best work yet, but, as any other artist out there, there is always room for improvement.” -Vincent answered her. –“Still, I must say that it was a challenge to capture Jagged Stone’s essence with my camera.”

“A challenge, you say? Don’t tell us that you became Jagged Stone’s shadow, while doing it?” -Nadja asked him.

“Well, it’s true that I had to stick to him like glue for nearly a month, while he was touring Asia and Australia, to fulfil this project.” -Vincent declared. –“I know that if I tell you, you probably won’t believe me, but while we were in Malaysia, I spent 96 hours without sleeping, waiting for the perfect shot to happen. But it was worth it, because the photo I took… well, I can’t even find the words   

“Then, it’s safe to assume that this is your favourite photo?”

“No, Nadja, not even close. It’s among my top 10 favourites of this work of mine, but it’s not my favourite.” -Vincent told her, with a joyous tone to his voice. –“No, my favourite photo, which I happened to shoot, because I was in the right place, at the right time, is this one.” -he pointed to a photo that was to their right. It featured Jagged Stone seated on a couch, with his pet alligator, Fang, resting on his lap, as he petted him. –“I just love how this one came out. Not only is the light perfect, but his pose and the way he looks at his pet alligator, it’s so unique! When I look at it, it conveys a sense of peace, but at the same time, a sense of wildness to Jagged Stone.”  

While the interview took place, the guests all admired the photos, trying to choose which one they deemed the best, or their favourite. This, however, was an ungrateful task. All of the photos looked amazing. Alya herself was having a hard time chosing the one she liked the most, as she photographed the exhibit. As for Nino, he tried to appreciate the exhibit, but the music that was playing was preventing him from doing it so. Being a disc jockey in his spare time, he was used to pick the right music for the right occasion. And whoever had chosen the music for that particular event had done a lousy job.  

“I knew I should’ve brought Wayzz with me.” -Nino told Alya, as she snapped a couple of photos with her cellphone. –“At least, I would have someone to talk about just how awful this musical choice is.” -he said. –“Who in their right mind would put Bach in a photo exhibit about a rock star? The least they could’ve done was to put one of Jagged Stone songs playing, since this exhibit is about him.”

“Well, you were the one who couldn’t convince him to come with you.” -Alya told him. When he went to pick her up, Nino declared that he had left Wayzz at home, because the turtle kwami had decided to take the afternoon to meditate, stating that if he needed him, all he had to do was invoke him. –“But at least your kwami still had the luxury of choosing of coming or not. Trixx wanted to come, but was kidnapped by Ella and Etta. You should’ve seen the stink eye she gave me, when I could not save her.” -she commented, knowing that the fox kwami would come berating at her later.  

“I can imagine her scolding you, and saying “How could you leave me with those little monsters, Alya?”, or something like that.” -Nino joked about it.

“Are you saying that my sisters are monsters?”

“Well, you did call them little sapotis once.” -Nino reminded her of that. When they misbehaved, Alya usually called the twins sapotis, after the little troublemaking jester monsters of the Creole myth.

“I did, I admit it.” -Alya giggled, reminding herself of that particular night. Nino had stayed over to watch a movie with her, and she had just put them to bed. Her parents were out, and so was her older sister Nora, so they had the house just for themselves. They had not begun to kiss, when suddenly, Ella and Etta showed up and photographed the two of them nearly kissing, saying they were going to show it to mom. Alaya had a hard time convincing them to erase the photograph, and in the end, she and Nino did not get anytime together alone. Since then, whenever they misbehaved, she would call them sapotis. –“Those two… I can’t live with them, but I can’t live without either.” -she admitted. –“I wonder what they’re doing to Trixx, right now?”

“If I know them, they’re up to no good.” -Nino chuckled.     


	4. Races and Videogames

If the word “rain” could be associated with another, it would be the word “boredom”. At least, that’s what Alix believed. The holder of the dragonfly miraculous had had plans for after school, which ended up being ruined because of the rain, confining her to her home, with nothing else to do, but to watch lousy shows on television. Her parents and herolder brother were aout, and she was all alone, with one but her kwami to keep her company on that rainy afternoon. When she was younger, she always imagined how cool it would be to have the whole house, just to herself, with no one to tell her what to do. But more importantly, she imagined all the things she would do with the house just to herself. Now that she was old enough, and she could be left at home on her own, she saw that having the house to herself was no big deal. She did the exact same things she always did, when her parents and her brother were at home. The only diference was that she did not apologize to anyone for doing things differently.

She had just finished making a huge bowl of popcorn and was getting ready to wach some random movie that was on television, when she heard a thunder roaring outside.  

“Whoa! That was a big one.” -Alix said.

“The storm must be on top of us.” –Daria said. –“I wouldn’t want to be caught outside right now.” -he admitted.

“Well, I would.” -Alix sighed, as she threw herself over the couch. –“I wouldn’t even mind that it’s raining. I just wanted to go out and have some fun.”

“You can still go out.” -Daria told her. –“Put a raincoat on, as well as a pair of galoches, and you’re ready to go. Go for a walk around, do some window shopping… you know, get out of here.”

“But that’s not what I wanted to do, Daria. I wanted to put on my rollerblades and just dash through the streets, until reaching the Trocadero, while doing the craziest stunts my mind could imagine, you know?” -Alix sighed, as she took a handful of popcorn from the bowl, throwing two of them to Daria, who caught them in mid-air. –“This is why I hate winter!” -she said, as she pointed out the window. –“Rain and wind always spoil my fun.”

Daria could hear the disappointment in Alix’s voice. The girl just hated to be cooped up at home. She was an outdoor girl, and to be cooped up like that, it was almost torture for her. Still, what could he do? He could not get rid of the rainor the wind. The only thing he could do, was to keep her company.

“Well, look on the bright side. It’s cold outside, while it’s warm in here. You’ve got a big bowl of popcorn, and you’ve got me to keep you company, until your parents and your brother come home in a few hours.” -Daria said, as he gently landed on her right shoulder. –“You know what we’re missing here? A big jar of pickles.”

Hearing him say that, Alix chuckled, petting him on the head.

“You’re a big glutton, you know that? One just as big as Plagg.” -Alix said, as she placed the popcorn bowl on the coffee table. –“You want me to go and get you a jar?” -she asked him.

“If you don’t mind.” -Daria told her, making her smirk.

“No, I don’t mind. I just hope you like this brand. There wasn’t a single jar of the brand you love at the store, so I bought you another.” -Alix told him, as she went to the kitchen to get the jar of pickles. She knew just how picky Daria was about the brand of pickles he loved to ear. Still, this time, he would not have another remedy, but to eat the one Alix had brought him. –“I hope they’re to your royal taste, Your Majesty.”

“Just because I do love to eat a certain brand of pickles, that’s not a reason for you to call me Your Majesty.” -Daria joked about, as Alix opened up the jar and placed it on the coffee table. –“Mmm… these smell like they were soaked in a very strong kind of vinegar. Good thing I love vinegar.” -he said, as he pulled one of the pickles from the jar, and gulped it. –“Not bad, not bad… it doesn’t have that delicious flavour the brand I like so much, but it’s not half bad. You have

“Yes, your Royal Highness.” -Alix joked, as she sat back on the couch. –“Now, let’s see what movie’s on. I hope it’s a good one, because if I can’t go out to skate or practice my parkour skills, the very least I can do is watch a good movie.” -she said, as she turned on the television.   

Zapping through the channels, Alix finally found a movie that was to her linking. Still, it did not take long for her to become bored with it. She had watched it a couple of time already, and pretty much knew all the good scenes by heart. Once gain, she zapped through the channels, looking for something else to watch, but it was no use. None of the channels had a movie or a show that she was in the mood to watch.

“It’s no use… there’s nothing good on television, and I’m not in the mood to go to my bedroom do ny homework, or surf on the Internet.” -Alix sighed in frustration, as she turned off the television.

“I know this doesn’t sound like something I would suggest, but why don’t you read a book?”

“A book? Daria, do I look like someone who enjoys to read?” -Alix raised her eyebrow at her kwami.

“No. But since you’re not in the mood to do anything else, maybe doing something different, like reading a book would help out.” -Daria told her. –“And it doesn’t have to be a big book. Heck, why not read a comic book? You’ve got a ton of them, remembere?”

“You know quite well what I was in the mood to do… and the rain outside ruined everything!” -Alix shot at her kwami, in exhasperation. –“Sorry, Daria… I’m just not in a good mood, right now.” -she immediately apologized to him. She was so ticked off for not being able to go outside do what she loved the most, she was lashing out on her kwami, for no good reason. –“Maybe I should just go to bed and try to take a nap. That way time will go faster.”

“Maybe you should. A few hours of sleep might help you relax a bit.” -Daria declared.

She was about ot get up and head to her room, and the doorbell rang. Looking at the time on the living room clock, Alix knew it was too early for it to be her brother, or her parents; not to mention that they all had keys, and did not need to ring the doorbell.

“Are you expecting someone?” -Daria asked her.

“No, I’m not. And you, did you order a pizza?” -Alix asked him. If he had, it would not be the first time he did. Daria had the habit of sometimes order a pizza with nothing but pickles for toppings, and Alix would have to pay for it, without the chance of eating a single slice, due to her hatred of pickles.

“Are you kidding me?! I haven’t moved an inch for the past half-hour.” -Daria protested it. –“Besides, if I had ordered a pizza, I would’ve told you.” -he told her.

“Not the last three times, you haven’t.” -Alix shot at him. –“It’s probably some Jehova witness, or some door to door salesman. I’ll get rid of them in a minute.” -she said.

Determined to get rid of whoever was ringing at her doorbell, Alix went to answer it. Whether it was a door to door salesman, or a Jehova’s witness, it would soon find out it was losing its time with Alix, because she was not interested in whatever they had to say. Unlocking the door, she was about to tell whoever was on the other side that she was not interested, when she was taken by surprise. Standing outside, wearing a yellow raincoat and a pair of matching galoches, was her friend, teammate and occasional rival, Kim. To say she was surprised, would be saying little. She had thought of several people who could be ringing at her doorbell, but Kim was not one of them.  

“Hey!” -Kim saluted her.

“H-Hi… what are you doing here?” -Alix asked him, trying not to sound very surprised.

“W-Well, I came to make a delivery near here, and well, the rain began to fall harder than before, so I remembered that you lived nearby, and I was wondering…”

“If you could stay here until this downpour stopped?” -Alix asked him.

“Well, yeah, pretty much.” -Kim admitted.

“Just get in.” -she signalled him to come in.

As he entered, the first thing he did was to take off his raincoat, which had not protected him from the rain, mostly because of the wind. Looking at him, Alix giggled to herself, because he looked like he had just come out of a car wash.  

“You’re soaking wet. Didn’t you have an umbrella with you?” -Alix asked him, as he handed her the raincoat for her to hang.

“I did… but the wind decided I wasn’t worthy of it.” -Kim joked about it. –“Jeez, I didn’t realize my clothes were this wet.” -he said, as we twisted the bottom of his sweater.

“Did you bring Imp with you?” -Alix asked him, as she went to get him some towels.

“You should know I never go out without him, right little buddy?” -Kim said, as the antelope kwami poked his head from the jean’s pocket he was in.

“You betcha.” -Imp said. Unlike his holder, the antelope kwami was rather dry.

“Then, why didn’t you just transform? You could’ve transformed yourself to make the delivery faster, and gone back, without the need to get wet.” –Daria asked him.

“Would you believe it, if I told you that I completely forgot about it?” -Kim told him.

“Coming from you, I’m not exactly surprised.” -Alix declared, as she came back with a few towels, throwing one at Kim, who caught it with his left hand. –“You better dry yourself, or else you’re going to catch a cold.” -she told him. –“If you want to change, I can get you one of my brother’s shirts. I’m sure he’ll have one that’ll fit you.”

“Thanks, but I’ll be fine. My clothes aren’t as wet as they look like.” -he said.

“Just trying to save you from a nasty cold.” -Alix told him.

“I didn’t know you cared.” -Kim smirked at her.

“And I don’t. But if you get sick, who am I going to argue with, when in school?” -Alix shot at him, as a smug formed on her face. She was not going to admit it, but she deeply cared about him. She had never said it, but she considered him to be her fiercest rival, which was Alix’s slang for best friend.

“Yeah, because a knucklehead loves to pick a fight with me.” -Kim laughed.

“You’re so full of yourself, you know that?” -Alix told him.

“It takes one to know one, that’s what my mom always says.” -Kim shot at her, in a clearly mocking voice.

That went on for several minutes, with both Alix and Kim throwing insults at one another, just to see who could come up with the better comeback answers. Both Daria and Imp decided to not intervene, because they already knew that once their holders began one of those arguments of theirs, the only ones who could stop them eree their parents, or Miss Bustier, who was used to those scenes, and neither of them were around to do it. Imp, who had since gotten addicted to old cartoons, saw Kim and Alix’s relationship like the one Tom and Jerry had. They could not stand each other, but they could not live without one another either. Eventually, they both stopped arguing, and like all their other arguments, ended up laughing about it, trying to remember why the reason they were arguing in the first place.

“So, what were you doing, before I arrived?” -Kim said, as he sat on the coffee table.

“Honestly? I was going to take a nap… the rain ruined all my plans for this afternoon.” -Alix told him. –“And you? You said you came to make a delivery for your parents’ restaurant, nearby?”

“Yeah.” -Kim nodded his head.

“But I thought you guys had someone to make those deliveries.” -Alix said.

“And we do… but Philippe, he caught a cold yesterday, and stayed home today, so I had to do the deliveries myself.” -Kim said, shrugging his shoulders.

“That sucks… I guess both of our afternoons were screwed by the weather, one way, or another.” -Alix chuckled. –“If it wasn’t for this rain, I would probably be skating my way over to Trocadero, right now.”

“Yeah… but you know something? Weather never stopped you from doing anything before.” -Kim declared.

“What are you saying?”

“I’m just saying that there are other ways for you to do something insanely awesome.” -Kim told her. –“You’ve got a miraculous on you. All you have to do is say the magic words, and you could go for a spin, way above the clouds, where therte’s no rain.” -he said. –“I’m just saying…”

“No… I know what you’re going to say, and the answer is no.” -Alix stopped him right there. –“You know that we can’t use our powers for selfish reasons.”-she remembered him.

“It’s not selfish, if you consider it to be a training of sorts. And you know, that just like when it comes to rollerskating, and skateboarding, or any other sport, the more you train, the better you get… unless, of course, you suck at it.” -Kim chuckled. –“Think about it. You transform and go practice your skills. That’s not breaking the rules. Even Master Fu could not argue about that.”

Hearing the two of them talking like that, both Imp and Daria knew where that was going, and knew that it was only a matter of time, before they sprang into action. And truth be told, both kwamis were eager for some action. It had been almost two weeks, since Hawk Moth and his cronies had decided to akumatize an innocent victim and spread terror over Paris, and they both grew tired with having seen no action for what looked like an eternity.

“You know where this is going.” -Daria looked at Imp.

“Oh, I know… you better get ready, because something tells me that our break will be over, in a matter of seconds.” -Imp whispered back at him, as he rubbed his paws in anticipation.       

“So, what do you say? I’ll even go against you on this one. We go from here to Disneyland Paris and back. Speed king against speed queen!” -Kim challenged her. –“Come on, I know you want to get out of here and do something crazy. I can see it in your eyes.”

“If you think I’m going to fall for one of your stupid dares, forget it.” -Alix told him. –“I’m not going outside in this rain, just so you could have a little fun… even knowing, I can beat you, with both hands tied behind my back.” -she said.

Kim knew Alix better than she knew herself. And, he knew that all he had to do was push the right buttons, for her to get mad enough to accept one of his famous dares. He could see it in her eyes that she was just waiting for the right excuse to do it, and Kim was going to give it to her.

“Okay, I was just trying to help.” -Kim said, pretending he was throwing the towel. –“And let me just point out, that was willing to catch a cold just for you.” -he said, though he did not believe he would catch a cold; not with his speed, which would allow him to sprint fast enough to remove any water that would fall on him. –“Though, to be fair, I guess you’re just afraid that I might win this race, you chicken.”

“What did you call me?!” -Alix asked him, slightly upset.

“You heard me, Alix. I called you chicken.” -Kim smirked evilly, as he mimicked a chicken’s movements with his arms.

What followed next was bizarre, to say the least. The whole thing felt like it had been scooped out from one of Marty McFly’s scenes in Back to the Future II. When she was younger, Alix was called several names, and over the years, she had learned to ignore every insult in the book, by telling herself that she was superior to all of them. But there was one kind of insult she could not, and would not tolerate, and that was to be called weak, wimp, coward or fraidy-cat… but the worst of them all, was chicken. She hated to be called that.  

“Nobody calls me chicken, and gets away with it, Kim! You better than anyone else should know that!” -Alix shot at him, furious. Just from hearing him say that, it made her blood boil in anger.

“Then, prove it… chicken.” -Kim kept calling her that name.

“You… are… a dead man, Kim!” -Alix shot at him. –“I’m going to wipe that smug off your  face, and then, I’m going to use it to mop up the floor with it! Daria, transforme moi!” -she shouted, as she transformed into Dragonfly.

“ _Now that’s more I like it!_ ” -Kim thought to himself. –“You talk big, but is your bite nastier than your bark? Imp, transforme moi!” -he said, quickly transforming into Antelope.

“If you want a race, you got one!” -Dragonfly exclaimed, as she made her way to the window. –“I agree with the route you suggested, but I have one condition to this.”

“Name it.” -Antelope told her, as he followed her.

“You can’t jump, like you always do. You have to stick to the ground. You can jump over cars or maybe some obstacles, but that’s it. No leaping over buildings or trying one of your infamous Incredible Hulk-style jumps.” -Dragonfly said, as she slid the door open. Whsn she did this, a powerful gust of wind agitated the curtains, forcing her and Antelope to hastily exit to the balcony, where they saw the rain seemed to give no quarter, falling even harder than before.   

“Fine, I can do that. But in that case, you can’t fly up in the air. You also have to stick to the ground…. Tell you what, because I’m a gentleman, I’ll let you fly, but you can’t fly any higher than 8 feet.” -Antelope smirked, as he closed the door behind him.

“You?! A gentleman?! Don’t make me laugh!” -Dragonfly shot at him, wirh a sarcastic voice. –“If you’re a gentleman, than Hawk Moth is an ice cream vendor!” -she joked, as she threw herself from the balcony. –“But you got yourself a deal! Last one is a rotten egg!”

“Hey! That’s cheating!” -Antelope yelled at her, as he too threw himself form the balcony. –“ _You’re fast, but I’m more agile than you are on the ground, Alix. I’m going to win this race, not only because I’m better than you, but also because if you win, you’ll never let me hear the end of it!_ ” -he thought to himself.  

As soon as they hit the ground, they sprinted through the street. Taking advantage of what they had agreed, Dragonfly was flying a few feet above the ground. She was used to flying a little higher, where there were less obstacles. But she loved a good a challenge, and flying just above the cars, or between them was a challenge right up her alley. Like every time she transformed, an iconic rock, pop or dance song would pop up inside her head, and she would start to chant it to herself. This time the song was none other than Eurythmics “Sweet Dreams Are Made of This”. She did not know why it popped up in her mind, but she suspected it was because in the previous night, she had been watching “X-Men: Apocalypse” for the umpteenth time,

“This feels great!” -Dragonfly said, as she flew between two buses, making her way towards Place de la Bastille. The faster she went, the more she realized the rain on her face felt incredibly good. –“ _I don’t care if I end up with a cold! Flying in the rain rocks!_ ” -she thought to herself, as she spinned around in mid-air. She was so caught up in the moment, that she almost ran into a tree. Dodging it at the last minute, she realized that scare had -“ _Whoa, I better be careful. The last thing I need is a broken head._ ”

“You better watch where you’re going!” -Antelope said, as he jumped over her.

“I don’t need advices from you! And stop jumping like you’re a kangaroo! Antelopes don’t jump that high!” -Dragonfly point it out.

“Well, I’m a special kind of antelope… and if you want me to stop jumping around like that, then you better start flying a little lower as well!” -Antelope shot at her, always with the same smug on his face. The one he had, every time they raced agains tone another. –“You almost hit a tree, because you’re flying higher than we agreed on!”

“Well, excuse me, but keeping a certain altitude when flying for more than a couple of seconds, demands a little focus, which is something you don’t even know what it means!” -Dragonfly  

“Whatever! While you’ll still be on your way to the park, I’ll be taking a couple of photos with Mickey and Minnie!” -Antelope smirked, as he sprinted out of there.

“Keep dreaming, buster!” -Dragonfly told him, as she too sprinted out of there. –“You’ll be the one to arrive there in second place! And remember, you still have to come back! So, if I were you, I would think twice, before assuming this race is already won!” -she exclaimed, as she passed him. –“Loved to stay and chat, but can’t!”

* * *

When she arrived at Agreste Manor, Marinette felt incredibly uncomfortable. It was not the first time she visited Adrien, but no matter how many times she had entered that house, she seemed to never feel comfortable in it. She did not know if it was the interior décor, which seemed so beautiful and luxurious, but at the same time, so stern and auster, devoided of love. Or if it was the fact that it looked perfectly spotless, like the homes one would see in home décor magazines. Whatever the reason was, Marinette would usually compare the interior of most of that manor to that of a graveyard… lifeless. Her parents house could easily fit whole in one of the largest divisions of that manor, but unlike it, when one entered in it, it would feel human warmth. Marinette could not see herself living in a place like that. She had told herself countless times, that wherever she would live, after leaving her parents house, she would make sure that upon entering it, a person would feel like it was welcomed in there.  

Still, there was one division in that manor, which contradicted the rest of the manor’s décor style, and Marinette always felt good, when she entered it… Adrien’s bedroom. She had only entered it three times before, but the three times she had been inside it, she always felt welcomed. She did not feel like she was an intruder, which she was feeling right then, as she stood on the foyer, waiting for someone to come and greet her. While waiting, her attention was stolen by the large portrait of hanging in the wall, which depicted Adrien and his father together.   

“ _Adrien looks so sad in that portrait._ ” -Marinette mused to herself. –“ _I hate seeing him sad. He has such a beautiful smile… he shouldn’t do anything but to smile._ ” -she thought.  

“Good afternoon.” -a voice welcomed her, while bringing her back to reality. It was the voice of Gabriel Agreste’s secretary and assistant, Nathalie Sancoeur.

“Oh, good afternoon, Miss Sancouer.” –Marinette smiled.

“I take it you had a safe trip?” -Nathalie asked her.

“Oh, yes.” -Marinette smiled.

“Adrien is just finishing practicing the piano. You can wait in the living room, if you want to.” -Nathalie told her.

“He plays the piano?! Oh, Adrien, when will you stop surprising me? Maybe never…” -Marinette thought to herself, once more letting her thoughts about Adrien take her mind straight to cloud nine.

“Miss Dupain-Cheng? Miss Dupain-Cheng?!” –Nathalie called Marinette out.

“S-Sorry, my mind was somewhere else. And please, call me Marinette. There’s no need for any formalisms, Miss Sancoeur.” -Marinette asked her, always smiling.

“Very well, Marinette.” -Nathalie smiled. –“Follow me, please.” -she said.

While she waited in the living room for Adrien to finish his piano lesson, Marinette was asked by Nathalie if she would like a cup of tea, or maybe a glass of juice. But she told her she was fine. Excusing herself, Nathalie went back to her office, leaving Marinette by herself.

“Nathalie is very nice.” -Tikki said, as she sprouted from the inside of Marinette’s purse.

“Yes, she is. She may seem a little cold and distant from the way she dresses, but if you look into her eyes, you’ll only see sweetness and kindness in them.” -Marinette told her.

“Well, it takes a sweet and kind person to know one, they say.” -Tikki giggled, as she looked around the place. Like Marinette, she felt that the Agreste Manor interior did not look very cozy or welcoming. –“This décor gives me the creeps.”

“Me too. It’s not very welcoming.” -Marinette confided into Tikki. –“It’s not that ain’t beautiful; Adrien’s dad has great taste, but… I don’t know, if it was my home, I would have the whole place decorated differently.” -she said.

“Well, a little bit of colour would make this place a little bit cozier, that’s for sure.” -Tikki said, before changing the subject. –“Your parents were quite nice in allowing you to come and have dinner with Adrien.” -she smiled.

“Well, when the words “Adrien” and “dinner” popped out of my mouth, my mom practically game me authorization to marry him.” -Marinette giggled nervously.

“Who knows if that will happen someday?” -Tikki smiled. –“But in the meantime, just relax and enjoy the moment.” -she advised her.

“And I will, trust me.” -Marinette said. –“Did you imagine that Adrien knows how to play the piano? He never told us that.” -she smiled, as she imagined Adrien playing the piano. In her daydream, he was wearing a black tuxedo, seated in front of a white grand piano, playing one of many symphonies from the great classical composers.

“Well, he’s very talented.” -Tikki said. –“And I guess there are things he likes to keep a secret, even from his friends. Like you… excluding Alya and Adrien himself, you never told anyone else that you’re a big fan of horror movies.” -she reminded her.  

“True… but, if you had a talent, wouldn’t you want others to know about it?” -Marinette asked her kwami, before rephrashing her question. –“Better yet, wouldn’t you want to share it with others?”

“Maybe he’s shy about it?” -Tikki answered her.

“Maybe…” -Marinette sighed, as she heard footsteps behind her.

“Marinette?”

“A-Adrien!”  -the blue-haired girl smiled nervously. No matter how much she tried, she could never smile normally when Adrien was around; at least, not during the first couple of minutes. She did not know why, but her brain needed that time to adjust itself to the boy’s presence.  

“Thanks for coming.” -Adrien smiled. Little did he know that his smile was making Marinette’s heart beat a little faster.

“Oh, it’s no big deal. Besides, it’s always nice to come and visit you.” -Marinette went on smiling, while teling herself to stop smiling like that. –“ _Come on, stop smiling like that! If you keep smiling like that, Adrien might think there’s something wrong, or that you’re a creep! Oh, stop it! You’re overthinkning things, Marinette! Still, you should smile differently. If you keep smiling like you are smiling right now, you’ll get a cramp._ ” -she thought to herself.

“Well, shall we go?” -Adrien asked her.

“S-Sure.” –Marinette said, as she got up.

“ _Can’t believe I actually managed to talk without suttering in front of her. If I had stuttered, she might think that I was nervous._ ” -Adrien thought to himself, as they headed to the stairwell. –“So, where is Tikki?” -he asked her.

“Over here!” -Tikki shouted from inside Marinette’s purse.

“I take it Plagg is up in your room?” -Marinette asked him.

“Yes, he’s not a very big fan of hearing me playing the piano.” -Adrien smiled.

“You make it sound like you’re a really lousy pianist.” -Marinette declared, giggling.  

“Well, I’m not the best pianist in the world… but I can’t say I’m the worst either.” -Adrien told her, being absolutely honest about it.

“You never told anyone at school you played the piano.” -Marinette smiled. –“Why didn’t you? Wre you afraid anyone would challenge you to play for the whole school?” -she asked him, as she imagined that happening in her mind. 

“To tell you the truth… it never occurred me to share it with you or the others.” -Adrien answered her. –“I manly do it because my dad thinks I should be able to play an instrument, as part of my education. Plus, he also plays it, so it serves an excuse for me to follow in his footsteps.” -he told her.

“I understand.”

“You know, it’s not that I don’t like to play the piano, but if I could choose which musical instrument I wanted to learn to play, I wouldn’t choose the piano.” -Adrien declared.

“Which one would you choose?” -Marinette asked him, curious.

“Well… the maracas.” -Adrien joked. –“ _Maracas? Really?! She’s going to think I’m joking with her… remember, you can’t make jokes like when you’re Chat Noir. Just be yourself, but don’t exaggerate._ ” -he thought to himself, trying to come up with another answer. –“Just kidding. No, if I could choose, I would probably choose either the saxphone, or maybe the violin.”

“The violin?” -Marinette asked, surprised. –“That’s not an easy instrument. I know, I took a few lessons when I was little, but after three weeks, I realized I didn’t have the talent for it.” -she admitted, as she remembered the first time, she tried to play the violin, and nearly broke one of her teacher’s eardrums. –“It was a disaster, to say the least.”

“Well, we can’t all excel at everything. But I’m sure you found out that you had other talents.” -Adrien told her. –“After all, you’re a fantastic designer, and a wonderful superhero.” -he told her, making her blush.

“Oh, don’t say that. I’m not that good, Adrien.” -Marinette told him, as her cheeks blushed even further.

“Of course, you are. If my dad says that you’ve got talent as a designer, then you do. And he doesn’t say that to everyone. Plus, I agree with him on that matter.” -Adrien told her, making her blush even more. –“And you’re a great heroine. You saved my tail a couple of times already. But, do you know who plays the violin really well?” -he asked her.  

“No, who?” -Marinette asked, curious.

“Chloe.”

“Chloe?! Our Chloe? Chloe knows how to play the violin?!” -Marinette asked, almost speechless. The heiress had never talked about it, or showed any interest in music, other than saying which were her favourite singers and bands.  

“She does. I’m probably one of the only two people in school who knows about it. The other one is Sabrina.” -Adrien said. –“She took lessons when she was 6, and she was really good. When we were younger and I went to visit her, she would put on a concert for just me and her stuffed animals, so I could tell her how great she was.” -he sighed, remembering that fond memory of his.     

To say she was speechless was little. Marinette was absolutely flabbergasted by that reveal. She had no idea that Chloe possessed such a talent for music. During the years the blonde had bullied her, Marinette believed that her only two talents were bullying others and asking her dad for everything she wanted. Who would have guessed the blonde had a natural talent for music?

“ _This just proves that I really don’t know Chloe at all._ ” -Marinette told herself. –“I had no idea.” -she said.

Entering Adrien’s room, they immediately smelled the cheese that Plagg had stolen form the pantry. The foul aroma was incredibly strong, and the first one to speak about it, was none other than Tikki, who jumped out of Marinette’s purse, to complain about the smell.

“Plagg, how can you eat something so smelly?!” -the ladybug kwami asked him.

“Smelly? For your information this is the most delicious Camembert I’ve tasted in the past couple of weeks.” -Plagg said, as he ate another chunk of it. –“If there’s a cheese that is worthy to be called “cheese of the Gods”, it’s Camembert cheese. Who would have guessed that your chef was hiding this beauty on the pantry’s tallest shelf, Adrien?”-he said, proud of himself for giving the chef the slip. –“If I knew of its existence sooner, I would’ve gone to the pantry and ate it all in a heartbeat.”

“Well, next time, eat it in the pantry, and don’t bring it up here.” -Adrien –“Can’t you see that the stench is bothering both Marinette and Tikki.” 

“Oh, they don’t mind, right, Marinette?” -Plagg asked her.

“N-No, I don’t.” -Marinette lied. The truth was she agreed with Tikki on the fact that that cheese smelled incredibly bad.

“See? What did I tell you?” -Plagg said, with a smile on his face.

“Well, I do mind.” -Tikki told him. –“So, if you don’t mind, eat it all, so we can all breathe a little easier, okay?” -she asked him, knowing he was more than capable of doing it in a heartbeat.

“Alright, alright, alright, keep your spots on. I’ll take care of it in an instant.” -Plagg said, as he attacked the wheel of cheese. To everyone’s surprise, Plagg was able to eat the whole thing in just 15 seconds, without leaving a single crumb behind. –“There, all taken care of.” -he said, burping loudly. –“Pardon me.”

“You really need to work on your table manners.” -Adrien said. –“Anyways, make yourselves right at home.” -he told Marinette and Tikki. –“Mi casa es su casa.”

“I didn’t know you speak Spanish.” -Marinette said, as she sat on one of the couches.

“And I don’t. That’s the only thing I can say in Spanish… well, that and quesadillas, tacos, burritos, empanadas, tapas…” -Adrien said in a playful tone. –“ _You better stop, or else she’s going to think that you’re just acting like an idiot._ ” -he thought, not wanting to give Marinette a wrong impression of himself. –“… and that’s pretty much it. I love Spanish cuisine.”

That last part made Marinette giggle a little. Adrien had quite the sense of humour, mirroring a little bit of the humour he had, when he transformed into Chat Noir. Then, out of the blue, she realized she was not nervous about being in the same room with him, or anything. She was calm, relaxed and surprisingly enough, not hypothesizing what could wrong in that picture.     

“So, what new game did you say you got from your father?” -Marinette asked Adrien, trying to change the subject.

“Oh, this one.” -Adrien showed her videogame’s case. –“I remembered you like racing games.”

“I do.” -Marinette smiled. –“ _He remembered! I can’t believe he actually remembered that I love this kind of videogames, especially since we only played against one another once._ ” -she thought to herself. –“So, you want to go one-on-one, or do you want to play in co-op, first?”

“Well, let’s go one-on-one first.” -Adrien said, as he inserted the disv into the console. –“ _I’ll let her win the first round._ ” -he thought to himself. It was not that he did not believe she could not outwit him in the game, but because he wanted her to think that she had not lost the gaming skills she had the last time. Plus, she was his guest. –“This time I won’t let you win that easily.”

“We’ll see about that.” -Marinette smiled, as she grabbed the remote. –“ _I’m going to let him win the first round_.” -she thought to herself. She knew Adrien was a great gamer, and knew he had the skills to beat her on his own, but she figured she owed him the first victory, for inviting her. –“I’ve been practicing, you know?”


	5. News from India

Mumbai. Former Portuguese and British colony, and with a population of more than 12 million people, it is the largest city in India. In fact, people did not call it a city, but a megacity, due to its size and its increasing population. People from all over the world, and even from other parts of India, come to visit it for its numerous attributes. From the gastronomy to the culture, and not counting world-renowned landmarks, like the Cuffe Parade, the Gateway of India, the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station and Flora Fountain.

But there was one place in the city of Mumbai, where no one wanted to visit or stay at, and those unfortunate to live in it, would sell their very souls to get away from it. Dharavi is the name of such place. Being one of the largest slums in all of Asia, Dharavi was a place where poverty, starvation and famine ruled. It was a place not suited for anyone to livem especially children. In the slums, the only law that mattered was the law of the jungle. The strong survived, while the weak did not. It was not uncommon to see people fighting for a scrape of food, or a pair of shoes around there. And on that night, it would be no different. On that night, little Kabir was looking for something to eat. Not only for him, but also for the group of children he lived with. Being nearly 10 years old, he was the oldest of such group, and it was always up to him to find food for the youngest. The sun had set hours ago, and was nowhere near to find any food that would feed the whole group. Looking for something edible in one of the trash cans in an alley, he tried to ignore the putrid stench that was in the air. He had lived in that slum all his life, but even so, there were stenches that one never gotted used to.

"There's nothing good in this one either!" -Kabir said, as he closed the trash can, and moving to the following one. –"If I can't find any food, the others won't have anything to eat tonight…" -he sighed.

He was about to open the trash can, when he heard something approaching. During the day, the slums would be bustling with life, filled with all kinds of noise. But at night, the only noises you would hear were the distant sound of the trains and the cars, or perhaps a television set or a radio that were on. The streets became somewhat deserted and only those who had to be outside were. Them, and animals. Animals like dogs, cats or rats, which was what Kabir heard. Standing on his four legs was a tiny rat, which like him, had decided to venture in search of food. Looking it in the eyes, Kabir smiled and felt sorry for the tiny furry creature, who like him was looking for something to eat.

"Sorry, little guy, but there's no food here." -he said to the little rat, who squeaked back at him, before disappearing into the shadows.

Determined to find some food, Kabir pressed on. His next stop was the back of a nearby restaurant. He knew it was dangerous, especially he knew the owner too well, and had been warned more than once that if he was caught looking for scraps in his trash can, he would beat him with a cricket bat he kept under the counter. Usually, he would find another place to look for food, but he was so hungry, and the others were counting on him, that he had to try it.

As he walked, he noticed an old newspaper on the ground. It was already a couple of weeks old, he could tell it. But not because of the date, after all, he hardly knew how to spell his own name, let alone know how to read. No, he knew it because it was wrnkled and was smudged with numerous kinds of stains. Even so, one could still make out the image that had been used for the frontpage. It was a photo of Ladybug and the rest of the Miraculous Team from the time they faced Hawk Moth for the first time. Kabir, like almost every other street kid, had seen images of the Miraculous heroes in action, since they first appeared. He remembered that when he first saw a picture of them, he innocently believed they had been sent by the gods to put an end to all the evil in the world. Whether they had been sent by the gods or not, every week or so, he heard about it and saw in the news more of their exploits, imagining what it would be like to be one of them. Imagining it, was perhaps the only luxury he could afford in a place like that, because imagining and dreaming don't cost a single penny, which was more than he had.

He was still a good distance from the place he was heading, but he could already smell the delicious aroma of food being cooked in it. The restaurant itself was little more than a street food kiosk, where pieces of chicken were grilled and then served with curry and rice. but to those who had nothing, it would pass for a 5-star restaurant, where nobility and royalty would eat the finest dishes.

Taking a shortcut through a street he knew would get him to his destination faster, all he could think about was how he was going to sneak past the owner, and search for any leftovers that had might ended up in the trash bin. But his trip was cut short, when he found himself in trouble; trouble he had not sought, but that found its way to him. He had just turned the corner, when he went against someone. Looking up, he saw this was a man in his late 20's and he was accompanied by three other men, who looked anything but friendly. They were all dressed in clothes deemed too swanky and rich for that part of town, and that could only mean one thing. It meant they were either smuggling drugs or working for someone who did. They were just standing there, smoking and Kabir ran into them. When they looked at him, he knew he was in trouble.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" -the man he went against bellowed him.

Kabir immediately froze in place. He knew men like that were no good, and if one wished to stay alive, he would no mess with them. If that was one of the slum's busy streets, Kabir would probably be able to get away from them, by mingling with the crowd. Unfortunately, luck was not on his side. When he did not answer, the man grabbed him by the arm and shook him.

"I said, what do you think you're doing, you little punk?!" -he kept bellowing him. –"Were you spying on us?!"

"N-No!" -Kabir stuttered.

"I think he was spying on us." -one of the other men said with a sadistic tone in his voice. –"And you know what happens to those who stick their nose where they don't belong, don't you, kid?" -he went on, as he pulled out a knife from his pocket, and approached Kabir. Sticking the knife in front of his eyes, he smiled viciously, creeping out the little kid. –"You

"P-Please, please, let me go! I swear I didn't see anything, please!" -Kabir begged them. The grip on his wrist was getting tighter by the second, all the while, his heart filled with fear

"Maybe you did, maybe you didn't. We can't take that risk, now can we?" -he asked the others.

"You know what they say, spare the rod and spoil the child." -the third man declared. –"Besides, what's one less kid? He's a street rat. Nobody's going to miss him."

More afraid than ever before, Kabir decided the only way to escape those men, was to do something drastic. Sinking his teeth into the guy's hand, he bit him until he tasted the blood from his attacker, who released him. Free from the man's grasp, Kabir started to run as fast as he could. Frightened, he just wanted to find a place to hid and escape those men who had decided to kill him, just for the heck of it. As he ran, he hoped his knowledge of the streets would help him. He could hear them closing on him, so he tried to give them the slip, by jumping over a wall, landing on someone's backyard. He was hoping he could hide there. Unfortunately, in the backyard was mangy dog, who promptly barked at him, before setting to attack him. Kabir, who had been afraid of dogs, ever since he was bitten by one on his ankle a few years prior, panicked and jimped the wall, only to land on top of one of his attackers, knocking him to the ground.

Realizing what he had done, he tried to get up and run once again. He could not believe just how lousy his luck was being that night. Cursing Shiva and Ganesh for all that was happening, he just wanted that to end.

"Got to get out of here!"

"Hold it right there, you!" -the attacker exclaimed, as he grabbed Kabir by the ankle, making him fall on his face. –"You're not going anywhere." -he said, as his companions arrived. –"Give me your knife and hold him down!"

Begging Shiva and Ganesh for help, Kabir wished for a miracle from the gods to save him from those horrid men. But deep in his heart, he believed the gods were too busy to care for someone like him.

"Hold him still, while I cut off his throat!"

Struggling, Kabir ttried to break free, but the men were just too strong. Not wanting to see what was going to happen next, he closed his eyes shut. In his heart, he had accepted that he was not going to survive that, so he began to pray to Shiva.

" _I prostrate myself before the five-faced Lord of Parvati, who is adorned with various ornaments, who shines like the crystal jewel, who is seated peacefully in the lotus pose, with moon-crested crown, with three eyes, wearing trident, thunderbolt, sword and axe on the right side, who holds the serpent, noose, bell, damaru and spear on the left side, and who gives protection from all fear to His devotees._ " -he prayed to himself. –" _I prostrate myself before the five-faced Lord of Parvati, who is adorned with various ornaments, who shines like the crystal jewel, who is seated peacefully in the lotus pose, with moon-crested crown, with three eyes, wearing trident, thunderbolt, sword and axe on the right side, who holds the serpent, noose, bell, damaru and spear on the left side, and who gives protection from all fear to His devotees._ "

He prayed to the Supreme being who was both the creator, the protector and the destroyer, so that what was about to happen, would happen swiftly, and that his soul would be carried to Svarg, the Hindu equivalent to Heaven, where his soul would go, waiting for one day to be reincarnated. He also prayed to Shiva that his attackers would one day face judgement and their souls dragged into one of the 28 Hells in Naraka for all eternity.

And then, his prayers were answered.

"It's game over…" -the man said, as felt something biting his throat, making him scream. –"Aaaaaargh!" -he screamed, dropping the knife and trying to understand what was biting him. Placing his hands around the wound, he felt something slithery and scaly, beginning to wrap itself around his neck and right arm. It was then that he saw what it was… a transparent snake. –"Get it off, get it off!"

"What the…?"

Surprised by what was happening, the other two tried to help their companion, not understanding what was going on. But before they could do it, the transparent snake which had coiled itself around his neck, snapped it, killing him, before itself disappeared into thin air. Looking around, they saw a dark figure in a suit of armor, coming out from the shadows. They froze in place, as the mysterious figure looked at them with its glowing red eyes, eyes that did not belong to man nor beast, but instead to a demon or a beast from the darkest depths of Hell. Unknown to them, they had crossed paths with the Collector. All the while, Kabir stood also in shock. He had never seen anything like it before.

" _Could this being have been sent by the gods to save me?_ " -he asked himself.

"What do you want?!"

"Forget what he wants! Just shoot him!"

Pulling out a gun from under their jackets, both men tried to shoot the armoured figure, only for their bullets to ricochet on its armour. Not wasting time, the Collector used one more of his powers to deal with them. From out of the blue a red transparent dragon appeared. At first, it was no bigger than a stuffed teddy bear, but it begen to grow, until it was the size of a pick-up truck. Roaring, he breath fire from its mouth, scaring the two men. They tried to flee, but the creature, controlled by the Collector made sure they would not get away. Firing its weapon once again, they attempted to arm the dragon. Scared, they dropped the weapons and begged for mercy. They did not wish to die, just like their friend. But their pleas for mercy fell on deaf ears. Signalling the dragon, this one breath fire on the two men, who tried to evade the flames. They managed to evade them once, but not twice. Once the flames touched them, they yelled in agone, as their bodies were consumed by them. They tried rolling down, but it was no use. The more they moved, the stronger the flames got. In a matter of moments, it was over. The screams ceased, and their charcoaled dead bodies was the only thing left of them. Whoever they were, they would probably only be identified through their dental records, as their bodies were irrecognizable.

With his adversaries defeated, the Collector called back the dragon, which disappeared into thin air. Looking at Kabir, he did not say a word. He just stood there, staring him in the eyes for what looked like an eternity. The poor boy, who was in shock after what he saw, did not utter a single word either. Even if he could, he did not know what to say. Finally, the Collector broke eye contact with him, and start walking towards the shadowy alleyway from where he had come, until he disappeared.

Kabir did not know who his saviour had been, and he would never find out either. The only thing he knew was that thanks to this mysterious saviour, who disappeared into the shadows, not only his life had been saved, but those who had attacked him and tried to kill him, would never hurt another sould again. Slowly, he got back up and decided that he did not want to be there, when the police arrived. With all that screaming the men did, as they were killed, it would be a matter of minutes before the police arrived and saw what happened in that alley.

"Thank you, noble Deva." -Kabir whispered to the Collector, as he too disappeared into the shadows.

What happened that night on that alley would never be forgotten by Kabir, who by then knew that as soon as the police arrived, that would make the news the following morning, not only in India, but also around the globe.

* * *

Four days passed since that rainy Friday, and at Collége François-Dupond things were as normal, as one could ask for. At Miss Bustier's class, Marinette and her friends were only 30 minutes away from lunch time, as their stomachs collectively begged for something to eat. Luckily, Caline Bustier was a wonderful teacher and knew just how to make time go faster, by teaching History of France in a fun and

"And so, when Louis XIII died, his widow, Queen Anne had the Parlement de Paris revoke the will of the late king, which would have limited her powers." -Miss Bustier explained, as she pretended to be Queen Anne herself. –"And so, she became the regent of France, until 1651, when her son, Louis XIV came of age and took over the throne of our country." -she went on. –"Now, can anyone name me one of the things that Louis XIV was responsible for during his reign?"

When Miss Bustier asked something like that, the class already knew that she did not want just one answer. She wanted a dozen of different answers. And the first one to give her an answer to that question was Max, who had been studying the matter the night before.

"He extended France's eastern borders!"

"He built the Palace of Versailles!" –Rose said.

"He was a patron to various artists." -Marinette said.

"All of those answers are correct. I see that you've been studying." -Miss Bustier smiled. –"But, none of you named the accomplishment for which Louis XIV is best known for in the geo-political map of the 17th century, and that is the fact that he became the maximum exponent of absolute monarch, or absolutism, where monarchs hold supreme authority and where that authority is not restricted by any written laws, legislature, or customs." -she explained. –"That is one of the reasons why Louis XIV is known as Louis the Great, or the Sun King, as he liked to be called."

"So, if he wanted a statue of him to be placed in a square, anywhere in France, he could do it, without having to ask anyone's permission or approval in the matter?" -Mylene asked her.

"That is right, Mylene. And that kind of thinking spread all over Europe, with the various other European reigns also following in that example. After all, Louis XIV was not the only absolutist king in Europe, but he was certainly the most famous and most powerful of them all." -Miss Bustier explained.

"But Louis XIV did a lot of bad things that hurt France and its people, Miss Bustier." -Sabrina commented. –"And I don't mean just the people who did not have anything to eat. I also mean the burgeouisy and the aristocracy. Why didn't they fight back against him, Miss Bustier?" -she asked.

"That is an excellent question, Sabrina. And to answer it, I would like you and the rest of the class to come down and gather around my desk." -Miss Bustier told her.

Doing as they were told, the whole class gathered around Miss Bustier's desk, where she then asked them to place themselves in a few specific places, before going back to her presentation on the subject.

"Now, let's imagine that Chloe here is Louis XIV." -Miss Bustier said, as she stood next to the blonde.

"Well, it wouldn't be that hard to imagine. Chloe acts like she's everyone's queen." -Alix joked, earning a couple of laughs from her colleagues.

"Hey! I heard that!" -Chloe shot at her, clearly annoyed with Alix's commentary.

"Sorry, couldn't help myself." -Alix apologized to her.

"Now, now, remember, no bad energies in the classroom, people." -Miss Bustier spoke softly, and always smiling at her students. When she saw they were all paying attention to her once again, she went on with the presentation. –"As I was saying, let us imagine that Chloe here is Louis XIV, and making use of Mylene's earlier example, she wants a statue of her to be placed right where Nathaniel is." -she pointed out to Nathaniel, who was nearly leaning against the blackboard. –"Now, let us pretend that Adrien is that very same statue and it goes right where Nathaniel is. But when it arrives, there are a couple of people, not peasants of course, but aristocrats or wealthy merchants, who own the land, represented by Kim and Alix here, who don't want the statue there. So, what to do? How can the king keep the statue where he wants, without anyone complaining about it? Any suggestions?"

"Pay the people." -Alya said. –"If there's one thing people love is money. The king would just have to pay them, and they would most likely pretend that they loved the statue, just to keep the money." -she said.

"Exactly, Alya. All the king had to do was pay them. It could pay them a wealthy sum, so they would forget about it. Or, instead, he could grant them higher titles, or properties, or even favours." -Miss Bustier explained. –"Of course, the King himself would not be bother by such things, most of the times. Only when dealing with very important people, would he take care of the matter himself. He would have trusted advisors, who would take care of such matters. And with it, they would maintain the status quo, in which the king was God's living representative on Earth." -she explained.

* * *

After that rather unique History lesson from Miss Bustier, the whole class went to the school's cafeteria for some well-deserved meal. Knowing they still had one more hour of classes before calling it a day, they were going to need some nourishment to go the extra mile. On that day, the choices were either fish tacos, or Teriyaki chicken with steamed vegetables. Most students chose the chicken, but a handful of them chose the tacos. Two of them were Kim and Mylene, who were on the mood for fish that day.

"Slow down, Kim, you're going to choke, if you keep eating that fast." -Nino warned him

"I won't, trust me." -Kim said, as he scarfed down another taco.

"Just to warn you, nobody around here knows how to do the Heimlich manoeuvre. At least, I don't." -Adrien said.

"You eat like a pig." -Alix declared.

"No, he eats more like a duck. Pigs tend to chew their food. Ducks just swallow it, like he's doing." -Ivan joked, with the rest of the class silently agreeing with him on the matter.

One of the things that had changed that school year was the fact that Miss Bustier's class began to sit together in the cafeteria during lunch, and people noticed it. The bond between them all grew, and at least during school hours, the class stayed together at all times. Some students wondered why that was happening, while others just ignored it.

"Miss Bustier is on fire today." -Marinette joked a little. –"Did you see the way she was talking about the French monarchy? Her eyes were sparkling with joy, as she talked." -she smiled, as she ate a piece of chicken. –"If she was this happy when talking about the monarchy, wait until we get to the French revolution. I wouldn't be surprised if she began to sing the national anthem, while staging alone the storming of the Bastille."

"I just hope she doesn't tell us that we'll have a pop quiz tomorrow, about what we heard during this morning." –Ivan commented. He was not very good when it came to History, and even with Mylene tutoring him, he still had a bit of difficulty when it came to that subject.

"Oh, come on, she wouldn't do that. She's not like Miss Mendeleiev, who loves to give pop quizzes, just for the fun of it." -Alya commented. –"Sometimes I feel that her class curses her for being the way she is. I've never seen a teacher that loves to give E's and F's to her students, like her."

"While we, on the other hand have the best teacher, not only in this school, but also, in the world." –Rose smiled, as the others waved their heads in compliance.

"Yeah. I mean, Miss Bustier gives us lots of homework and all, but compared to Miss Mendeleiev, she's a saint." –Juleka added.

"Plus, she's always smiling." -Marinette said. –"Her smile is really contagious. When you're near her, you just can't help but to smile as well."

"A lot like when we're around you." -Adrien told her, making her blush lightly.

"So, who's turn was to bring dessert?" -Kim asked, breaking the small, but powerful romantic moment that was going on between Adrien and Marinette, without realizing it. Since the year began, the whole class had come up with a new custom. Every day one of them would make or buy something delicious for dessert, and then bring it to share with the others. And on that day, it was a certain blonde's turn.

"It's Chloe's." –Nathaniel answered.

"So, what did you bring us, Chloe?" -Rose asked her.

"Me? I didn't bring a thing…" -Chloe declared, making the others stare at her. –"Don't give me that look. I said I didn't bring a thing. I didn't say I didn't order someone to bring it for me." -she said, as she checked her cell phone. –"But, it should be arriving, any minute now."

A few seconds later, a figure dressed in a black tuxedo and carrying two enormous trays showed up. It was Jean, Chloe's butler, who once again was carrying out one of the girl's requests.

"Miss Burgeouis." -Jean said, as he greeted her and the rest of the class, who were by then were finishing their lunch.

"Just in time, Jean Pierre." -Chloe smiled at him. –"Put the trays on the table, and you can go. I'll take them back to the hotel, after class. And if I need anything else, I'll call you."

"Very well, Miss Burgeois. With your permission." -Jean said, as he excused himself.

As Jean left, not only the whole class, but the whole student corp that was in the cafeteria stared at Chloe, as if she had done something unbelievably bad or criminal. The blonde herself, did not say a word about it, seeing what had happened as absolutely normal. But the others did not see that as something normal.

"You had your butler bring you the dessert, you were supposed to bring yourself?" -Marinette asked her, still a little shocked with what happened.

"It couldn't be helped. I couldn't bring this to school earlier, because if I had, it would've melted." -Chloe stated, as she pointed to the trays that remained covered.

"The cafeteria has coolers, remember, Chloe?" -Alya reminded her.

"I know that. But they probably don't have the right cooling temperature for this dessert." -Chloe immediately came up with an excuse. –"Besides, this delicacy must be kept at the right temperature and served minutes after leaving the cooler. That's why I had Jean Jacques bring it in a refrigerator van, so we could all share it." -she smiled innocently. –"And now, I present you… our dessert."

Uncovering the trays were two of the most delicious and biggest Banana Splitss they had ever seen. Each one had more than 15 different scoops of ice cream, covered in enough whipped cream to choke a horse with, as well as crushed nuts and maraschino cherries.

"Oh, that looks really good." -Sabrina smiled. She had already tasted it, while staying with Chloe, and knew the others were also going to like it.

"A Banana Split. In the middle of winter, Chloe?" -Mylene asked her.

"And why not? They say the best time to eat an ice cream is whenever a person wants, and that includes winter." -Chloe declared.

"It does look really good." -Rose smiled, as she looked at the ice cream scoops on one of the Banana Splits, which she believed were strawberry and cherry, and that had an absolutely delicious look.

"Well, I guess we have to thank you for bringing this for us to share, Chloe." -Adrien said. –"Thanks." -he thanked her, as the rest of the class also thanked too, either with a smile or by applauding her.

"It was nothing." -Chloe smiled. Seeing that none of them were eating the ice cream, she decided to be the first one to strike it. –"And now, if you don't mind, I think I'm going to taste that scoop of dulce de leche, and I advise you to do the same. Go on, don't be shy." -she kept smiling, as she grabbed a spoon.

Following her example, the whole class attacked the banana splits, which tasted as good as they looked. The creaminess of the ice cream, combined with sweetness of the whipped cream and the cherries, along with the crunchiness of the nuts, made those jumbo-sized ice creams a dessert worthy of a god, or the very least, of an ice cream connoisseur.

"Too bad the kwamis aren't here with us. They'd love to taste this." -Juleka said, as she ate a spoon-full of her favourite flavour of ice cream, blueberry.

"Well, they were the ones who wanted to stay in the classroom. Besides, with the number of snacks we left them to eat, they won't mind on skipping this." -Nino declared, knowing fully well that Wayzz would not be upset for not tasting that ice cream, especially since he was a kwami of simple tastes.

"I know that Mika is going to be really upset, when he knows that there was ice cream, and he didn't get any." -Sabrina said, as she ate one of cherries, taking her time to savour it. –"I can already hear him complaining about it, while saying that I didn't think of him, while I ate this." -she smiled, imagining the upset face the wolf miraculous was going to give her, when she told her about Chloe's dessert surprise.

"Well, if he gets upset, tell him the next time you and him come by the hotel, I'll order one of these just for him and for Pollen." -Chloe told her best friend.

"Well, I for one know that Muria won't mind not tasting this, unless of course there's a scoop of ice cream that tastes like pudding somewhere in the tray." -Ivan joked, knowing just how crazy his kwami was for pudding.

As they ate the ice cream, they took the opportunity to chat about what they were going to do that afternoon, after classes ended. Most of them were going home, either watch TV or dedicate themselves to one of their hobbies. But there was one of them who did not had plans to stay home that afternoon, and was hoping he could convince a certain girl to do the same, with him.

"There's this new movie I've been wanting to go and watch, and well, I was wondering…" -Adrien declared.

"If I wanted to go watch it with you?" -Marinette asked him.

"Y-Yeah… that is, if you want to. It's a sci-fi movie, and well…" -Adrien confessed, knowing it was not the genre of movie Marinette enjoyed.

"I'd love to." -Marinette smiled. She was not a big fan of sci-fi movies, but she did not mind. If watching a movie, which she would probably not like very much, was the price to go out with Adrien on a date, it was more than fair. –"Will you come and get me, or do you want to meet at the movie theatre?"

"I think the second would be better. I have to sneak out of my place, without my father knowing." -Adrien smiled nervously, which made Marinette giggle. –"That's the problem with having a father that expects you to stay home, when you don't have any photoshoots. So, I'll have sneak out, without he, or anyone else finding out."

"Nothing that a certain kitty cat won't be able to do, right?" -Marinette kept giggling.

Watching the two of them talking between them like that, Nino felt like commenting the whole thing with Alya, who was by his left.

"Hey, is it me, or Adrien and Marinette seem a lot closer these past couple of days?" -he whispered at the brunette's ear.

"No, it's not just you." -Alya smiled, as she ate another bit of ice cream. –"They really seem a lot closer. I think their relationship has finally moving to the next level." -she said. –"And a good thing too. I was starting to think that she'd never conquer her shyness, when around Adrien."

The mood at that table was quite joyous, with everyone talking. But there was one person who had not spoken a word, since Chloe's butler arrived with the dessert. And that person was none other than Max, whose eyes had been glued to his cell phone's screen for a bit. He had been reading the news on the Internet, in particular, one that was front cover in numerous news websites.

"Max? Max, you're there?!" -Kim asked his best friend. –"You haven't said a word these last couple of minutes. Is there something wrong?"

"Uh, sorry, I was just reading this." -Max answered him, as he showed him the article on the cell phone.

"What is it?" -Kim asked.

"It's a news article about a strange crime that took place in India last night. It's both strange and interesting." -Max told him.

"What makes it so strange?" -Alix asked him, joining the conversation.

"Well, for starters, the victims died in a strange way. One of them had its neck snapped, and the other two were burnt alive." -

"Burnt alive? Ew!" -Chloe, who heard part of the conversation, said, imagining the burnt corpses. –"Max, please, we're eating!" -she protested.

"Are there any photos?" -Kim asked.

"Just from the crime scene." -Max answered him. –"But, then again, I highly doubt they would ever allow the press to photograph the dead bodies." -he stated.

With Chloe's reaction to it, it did not take long for the rest of the class to join in the conversation, asking Max for details on the matter. None of them were

"Still, as awful as all of that is, that still doesn't explain why you're saying it's interesting." -Alya told him.

"I'm getting there. According to the article, the police has confirmed that there were no traces of gasoline or any other type of accelerant in the bodies of the men that were burnt alive, but the damage to their bodies says it otherwise. Plus, they also stated that the third victim, the one with the broken neck, had a snakebite on it." -Max told the others.

"That is strange." -Nathaniel said.

"Who would in their right mind would burn two people alive, and then kill another by letting a snake bit him, and then snap its neck?" -Ivan asked out loud. Just the idea of someone doing such a thing to another living being, gave him the creeps.

"Someone really disturbed?" -Sabrina suggested.

"Also, the victims have not been identified yet, but the authorities believe them to be members of one of the many criminal gangs that operate in the slums." -Max read aloud for the others.

Paris had many problems when criminals, but nothing compared with other countries, like India. The criminality rating was among the Europe's lowest, and that was thanks to the police, and of course, since a few months ago, the Miraculous Team, who helped to keep the streets safe during their night patrols.

"Well, I'm just happy that things like that don't happen in Paris." -Marinette sighed in relief. –"Can you imagine if that happened around here?"

"I can, and I hope that never happens. We already have enough work arresting criminals and kicking Hawk Moth's butt, whenever he shows up." -Alix whispered to her.

"Maybe you should just stop reading that news, Max." -Juleka told him.

"She's right. It's not healthy to read those things." -Rose agreed with the Goth girl.

"Maybe you're right. Besides, Miss Bustier told us that we're going to do a yoga class next, and the last thing I need is the idea of someone killing people in my head." -Max said, as he turned off his mobile data, and put the matter behind him. But little did Max and the other know, that the creature who had killed those men in India, was making his way towards Paris, and worst yet, towards them.


	6. Bad Omen

Two days went by after the news on the mysterious murders in India made the headlines. Though other news had made the headlines since then, the murders were enclosed in too much of a macabre mystery for people to just stop talking about them. Numerous websites had been created around them, where people posted and discussed numerous theories on what happened. In another time, people would probably just blame the whole thing on some terrorists or drug cartel. But with the appearance of both Hawk Moth and the Miraculous Team, who had inadvertently revealed the existence of magic in the world, people now questioned the possibility of something magical killing those men.

And speaking of Hawk Moth and the Miraculous Team, neither the villain or his goons, nor the superhero team had been spotted the past couple of weeks. Paris had seemingly caught a break from Hawk Moth's attempts to both conquer the city and destroy the miraculous holders. But that did not mean that the heroes themselves had caught a break. Each day, two of them would go on patrol, and make sure the city was safe. On top of that, they still tried to train their skills. Because Master Fu had decided to meditate for an extended period of time, in the Garden of the Ancients, they all decided to let him do it in peace, training elsewhere. After all, Paris had so many places they could easily practice their skills. On that afternoon, it was Ivan and Mylene's turn to go on patrol. Transforming themselves into Grizzly Bear and Forest Doe, the two began their patrol near the Montparnasse Tower, making their way to the Le Moulin de la Vièrge neighbourhood. Once there, the two heroes had their hands full with two distinct events.

First, they prevented a little boy from being run over by a car, when he was playing football with his friends on the street. The whole thing was almost a quirk of fate, because it happened when they were jumping from rooftop to rootop, and Grizzly looked down, noticing a red football heading into a busy street, and a little kid going after it. The whole scene was already enough for a person to feel scared for the child, but when a speeding car bowed the street and did not see the little kid, who came out from behind a parked behicle, all the ingredients for a disaster were present. Luckily, the miraculous hero nearby, ands prevented what could have been a tragedy. Using his body, as if this one was a bouncing ball, he threw himself against one of the buildings to gain momentum, and then, shot himself in front of the car, grabbing the child. Already on the sidewalk, he breathed a sigh of relief, having managed to prevent an innocent's death.

"That was a close one." -Grizzly Bear said, as he placed the little boy on the ground. –"You got to be a little more careful, you know?" -he said with a calm voice. The boy was a little startled by what had just happened, and he figured that talking with a calm voice would help out. –"You can't cross the street without looking to both sides, kid."

As the child's friends crossed the street to both see if his friend was alright, as well as to meet the bear hero, Forest Doe also showed up, worried, and feeling a little guilty she did not spot the occurrence, like Grizzly Bear did.

"Is he alright?" -Doe asked him, as she landed in front of the two.

"Yeah, he's alright." -Grizzly smiled at her. –"He's just a little scared, but he'll be alright, won't you, little buddy?"

"Y-Yes."

"What's your name, sweetie?" -Forest Doe asked him.

"R-Raphael." -the little boy stuttered. –"A-Are you really Grizzly Bear and Forest Doe."

"You bet we are." -Grizzly smiled.

It did not take long for the colour on his cheeks to come back. The fear of almost having been run over disappeared, little by little, being replaced with excitement. He could not believe he was meeting two of the members of Paris' superhero team, in person. And that excitement was multiplied by the rest of his friends, who were also excited to meet them. Needless to say, during the next couple of minutes, the two of them ended up busy giving autographs and taking selfies with every last one of the kids. Not that either one of them minded. It was those small things that reminded them just how much most of Paris loved them, as well as how the city needed them.

As for the second event, they stopped the robbery of an armoured car, who was there to collect the deposits from a bank. The thieves were five, were armed and had a getaway vehicle ready. Waiting for the security officers, who were carrying several bags of money from the bank, to open the doors from the armoured car, they attacked them, fast as lightning. Telling the ones inside the armoured car to come out with their hands in the air, tey then ordered the others carrying the bags, to drop them very slowly, while also putting their hands up in the air. The security officers quickly did as they were told. Having a gun pointed at one's face, is the kind of incentive that one needs to do everything he or she was told and the bank did not pay them enough, for them to risk their lives over whatever the content in the bags were. After making sure the security officers did not try any stunt, two of the thieves went to collect the bags, while the other two kept their guns pointed at them.

"Alright, now, lay down on your stomach and place your hands over your head!" -one of the thieves ordered them, as they did what they were told. –"Remember, don't try to be heroes! Do as you're told, and this will end in a matter of seconds." -he bellowed to them.

The thieves really believed they were going to get away with it. But to their surprise, the miraculous heroes showed up. Combining Doe's invisibility and Grizzly's massive strength, they were able to disarm the robbers, destroy their weapons and cripple their vehicle, before they tying them up around of what was left of their getaway vehicle. One of the thieves tried to shoot them, but before he could pull the trigger, Doe, who was invisible, disarmed him, and made sure he would not try to run, by punching him in the face, instantly kocking the lights out of him. While wrapping them up, using a rope they had borrowed from one of the many balconies in that street, the heroes could not help but to make a couple of comments, highlighting the criminals' poor choices in life, as the citizens who were nearby, applauded their courage and bravery, when facing the thieves.

"You guys should really think about finding another way to make a living." -Forest Doe told them.

"Definitely, because, as robbers, you guys suck:" -Grizzly said, as he smashed the last of their guns with his bare hands, reducing it to rubble. –"But, don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to think about your next career, while behind bars."

"And speaking of which, that's our cue to leave." -Forest Doe said, as she heard the police sirens approaching. –"Usually, we would love to hang around and make sure you were dragged to the nearest precint, but we're in a bit of hurry today." -she commented. The truth was they still had a lot of ground to cover, before sundown.

"But don't worry, I'm sure the police will want to hear just how you five robbers had your butts kicked by two teenagers… well, teenagers with superpowers, but that's beside the point." -Grizzly Bear joked, as when one of the robbers glared at him. If looks could kill, the bear hero would be dead in mere seconds. –"Have a nice day, guys! And remember, give our regards to our fans in prison." -he said, as he ran towards a building, and began to climb it, followed by Forest Doe.

After that, they went west, heading towards Villa Montmorency. During the rest of the patrol, nothing else happened, which they thanked. Stopping a little kid from being run over and preventing a bank robbery was just the right amount of excitement they could take that afternoon. They ended their patrol, when they reached the Hippodrome d'Auteil, where yet another horse race was taking place. Knowing Mylene was quite fond of horses, Ivan, who had been the one choosing where they would go on that patrol, decided that was the best place to end it. And as expected, as soon as she saw where they were heading, she could not help but to smile, knowing full well that that had not been a coincidence. Landing on top of the tribunes, they took a seat, so they could watch both the horse races, as well as the sunset, while commenting on what had happened. Talking about everything that had happened during their patrol was one ritual they unknowingly shared with the rest of their friends. It was also a way for them to talk to each other, as a couple.

"It was quite the patrol we had today." -Forest Doe declared.

"Yes, yes it was." –Grizzly Bear agreed with her.

"You did quite the number saving little Raphael." –Doe told him. –"I can still hear him saying that he was going to tell his mom that he was saved by the two of us, as well as his teacher and all the other friends that weren't with him." -she smiled, remembering the enthusiasm in his voice.

"Thanks. But let's be honest. You were the real hero today." -Grizzly told her. –"If it wasn't for you, I might have ended up with my chest full of lead, when we stopped those robbers." -he admitted.

"Oh, that's what you always say, whenever you go up against an armed thug." -Doe told him, smiling, knowing he was exaggerating. –"But in the end, you always end up winning, and without a single scratch on you." -she giggled.

"Not this time. Believe me, I was so focused on one of the others that was trying to make a run for it, that I didn't pay attention to the one that almost fired against me." -Grizzly told her, being absolutely honest about it.

Sensing honesty in his words, Doe simply smiled, as she placed her hand over his left cheek, caressing it, before planting a small kiss on his lips. It was amazing just how her shyness and inhibition melted away, when she put on her costume, or was with the boy she loved.

"I believe in you."-the blonde kept smiling at him, making him blush lightly. –"And if that's the case, you're welcome." -she giggled, as shegently leaned against Grizzly. –"You know what else? This is probably one of the most beautiful sunsets you've taken me to see."

The fact was the weather held off that afternoon, and though there were a couple of clouds in the horizon, they were not enough to spoil the beautiful sunset.

"I'm glad you think so."-Grizzly Bear smiled. –"The only thing missing here is perhaps some roasted chestnuts for us to share with one another." -he declared.

"Well, next time we've got to remember to buy some on the way." -Forest Doe smiled. –"By the way, thanks for remembering I love horses. To watch them racing it's such a treat." -she said. Nobody else knew she was fond of equines… with the exception being Ivan, and Miss Bustier, to whom she had confided this little secret once. She had always wanted to learn to ride a horse, but that was one dream that had not been scratched from her bucket list yet.

"I know what you're thinking, and believe me, one of these days you'll get the chance to do it." -Grizzly told her. Some would say he could read her mind, because they were soulmates. But the truth was, he could guess what his girlfriend was thinking from the look in her face. She had the ability to make different faces, when thinking of specific things, she liked or hated. And right then, she was making the face she always did whenever she fantasized about riding a horse, or even a pony. –"You know what? My mom knows a person, who's friends with someone who owns a farm, where they breed horses, just outside of Paris. I can ask her if there's a way they'll let you ride one of the horses, and who knows, even learn how to do it." -he suggested.

"Really? You'd do that for me?!" -Doe asked him, excited about the idea.

"I already told you. I'll do everything for you. I just won't give you the Moon, because then everyone else would be jealous of you." -Grizzly joked about it.

"And because that's physically impossible." -Doe told him, while smiling. He knew just what to say to make her smile.

"Well, that too." -Grizzly said. –"But you know what I mean."

"I do." -Doe smiled, as she leaned against him, resting her head on his chest. She loved to do this, and Grizzly did not mind. In fact, he found it cute. –"I have the best boyfriend in the world." -she told him, as the last beams of sun caressed them both, while the Sun hid behind the horizon, allowing its sister, the Moon, to take its place in the sky.

Hearing her say that, made Grizzly both smile and remember that though they were a couple, he still had not formally proposed to her. The rememberance of the night he was going to propose to her, a few months prior, made him sigh. He had everything planned, and then, Hawk Moth unleashes a powerful Akuma into the city, turning it into Halloween Town.

" _I'll propose to you, the way you deserve it, Mylene, and very soon._ " -Grizzly thought to himself, as he gently placed his right arm around her waist, pulling towards him, while also thinking that she was not the only who was lucky in having a boyfriend like him. He was also lucky to have a girlfriend like her.

* * *

After completing most of his homework, Max allowed himself a little break. Miss Bustier had requested a 10-page report on a historical figure that had contributed in some way to the French Revolution, or to the First Republic, and to make things a little a little more challenging for her students, she had forbidden them from choosing figures such as Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, Lafayette or Robespierre. Doing a little bit of research, Max decided to make his report about Jacques Pierre Brissot, one of the leading members of the Girondist movement. He chose him, because he felt that no one else would choose him. It took him nearly 3 hours to complete the first draft, but when he finished it, he knew the hardest part was over, and all he needed to do was check to see if everything he wrote was correct, before redacting the report's final version.

But before doing it, the holder of the spider miraculous decided he had earned a little bit of rest and relaxation. There was still a good hour before dinner, and he was in the mood to play some videogames. He challenged Ari to play some Mario Kart with him, but the kwami was too entertained with a book he had found about History of Architecture in Medieval Europe, that he passed on the challenge.

"It's not like you to pass on challenge." -Max commented.

"Well, haven't you ever been in the mood to do something else, other than the thing you usually like to do?" -Ari asked him, without taking his eyes from the book. –"Well, I'm on such a mood today." -he said, while flipping the page.

"Alright. Suit yourself." -Max smiled, as he turned on the console. –"But, if you change your mind…"

"Don't say "I'm the first in line", please…" -Ari warned him.

"I wasn't going to…" -Max said.

"I don't know. Ever since your mom got that original record from ABBA, that I hear you humming every single song from it, just like her." -Ari commented.

"Hey, it's not a crime to like ABBA." -Max told him.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I have to listen to it, over and over." -Ari told Max, who chuckled.

True to his word, Ari did not change his mind, and Max ended up playing against the computer. After dinner, Max went back to his desk to complete the report, and about 30 minutes later, he considered himself satisfied with what he had accomplished. Slightly exhausted, he decided to check what was going on the different online forums he followed, as well as checking the news, before going to sleep. There, he would always find something that would either make him laugh, or at the very least, get excited for. But, no such luck. There was no news he felt were worthy of his attention, and he did not see anything in the forums that made him laugh. His last stop before turning off his laptop was the Miraculous Blog. He quickly checked it to see if there were any mails the fans had sent, but saw that someone had already done it. The only thing that was worthy of sharing with everyone was a video sent by a fan, featuring Forest Doe and Grizzly Bear stopping a bank robbery that afternoon, which he saw Alya had uploaded earlier.

" _Looks like Ivan and Mylene had their hands full today._ " -Max thought to himself. –" _And tomorrow it's my turn to do it._ " -he kept musing to himself. –" _Just hope something exciting happens. It's been weeks since Hawk Moth tried one of his schemes…_ "

Seeing there was nothing else to do on the blog, he decided to call it a night. But, as he was about to turn off the laptop, on the right inferior corner of the screen, a window popped up, saying "Tragedy near the Taihang Mountains". Raising his eyebrow, he wondered what was that about. Quickly opening it, it did not take him long to read the article.

"Disaster strucks archaeological site of Xiadu, near the Taihang Mountains, as team of archaelogists and workers are found mysteriously dead." -Max read out loud. –" _And it took people two whole weeks to realize that something had happened?! How can something this big happen, and nobody realize it?_ " -he asked himself. –" _This has all the ingredients of an X-Files episode._ "

Hearing the word "dead", Ari immediately joined Max, to see what was going on.

"Dead? Who's dead?"-Ari asked Max, as he landed on his left shoulder.

"These archaelogists in China, it seems." -Max answered him, as he kept scrolling down the article. He wondered what the mystery was all about, and for some reason, the idea that a curse, like the one that befell those who opened Tutankhamun's tomb in Egypt, which he knew was absolutely bogus. But the more he scrolled the article, and read what had happened, the more he believed something really bad had happened there. The photos on the article only proved just how awful things were. Still, a curse? His rational brain kept telling him that that was utter nonsense. –"A curse, really? Do they think people are dumb enough to believe that?" -he asked rethorically, knowing fully well that there were people who believed in such things. –"Of course, they are. Still, I for one know that I don't believe in such things."

"Until a few months ago, you didn't believe in magic, and now you're talking a magical creature, like it was nothing." -the spider kwami told Max.

"It's different, Ari. I mean, you're different." -Max told him. –"You were created by a wizard. Curses are only superstitious tales that people come up with to scare other people into doing, or not doing something."

"Believe me, curses do exist. How do you think Hawk Moth is still around, and if hadn't cursed himself to become immortal, even if his body is destroyed?" -Ari stated. Just looking at Max's face, he knew he was about to say something, but held his answer for a few seconds, while thinkning about it.

"Okay, maybe they do exist. But still, all that is written here, can be logically explained." -Max told him.

Reading the article himself, and looking at the gruesome photos that were taken, as fast as he could, the spider kwami realized that there were things that happened in that camp site that could be logically explained. But there were also a few that could not be explained as logically as the others. For instance, the burned victims, whose bodies had been reduced to charcoaled corpses could be explained, as well as the victims who had seemingly been blundgeoned to death with a rock. But victims who had seemingly been slashed and seemingly cut into pieces, that was harder to explain from a scientific or logical point of view, though, not impossible. All that happened, could have been just one horrendous incident, or it could have been something way more sinister, and something inside him, was telling him that the second option was the likeliest to be true.

Knowing Max, Ari had to come up with a way to prove him that what happened at that site could be part of a curse. So, he decided to ask him, what he thought had been the reasons for each of the things that happened to happen, and more importantly, how.

"Alright. Then, let's see if you can explain everything in these photos." -Ari said, as he looked him in the eyes. –"For example, the blundgeoned victims?"

"Well, according to what was written in the first paragraph, they were excavating a tunnel that would lead them to some ruins hidden underground." -Max declared. –"Maybe they were blundgeoned by rocks that fell from the ceiling." -he said, confident

"Okay, it's quite possible. But there also blundgeoned victims out in the open." -Ari told him, obliterating his theory. –"That doesn't add up, f you ask me." -he said, and before Max could say anything, he went on. –"nd how do you explain the burnt victims?"

"I don't know… maybe there was a gas pocket, and while they were excavating the tunnel, they hit it and the whole thing exploded, burning them." -Max hypothesized. –"I mean, sometimes it only takes a spark…"

"It's not that I don't want to believe that, but, if that was the case, there would've been maybe a couple of burnt victims, not almost every single person in the camp. According to what's written here, there were burnt dead bodies all over the place, not just near the tunnel or inside it." -Ari said, while pointing out that fact, that was on the article. –"But let's see you coming up with a theory as to shy there were people cut to piece in the scene? And don't tell me that's something natural."

On that point, even Max could not come up with a theory on the spot, and had to think for a couple of seconds, before one he felt was remotely possible appeared in his mind.

"Well… I… perhaps, when the fire broke out, one of the machines exploded and pieces of it were projected in all direction, and ended up cutting a few people into pieces." -Max said, though not even he himself believed in that being possible.

"Admit it… even you think that's not feasible." -Ari looked at him.

No matter how much he wanted to deny it, Max could not do it. There were things in that whole story that did not add up. Still, saying that a curse was behind all that, it was a bit too much.

"Okay, I admit that there a few things that I cannot explain, no matter how much I want to." -Max sighed in exhasperation, finally admitting defeat. –"But I still don't believe there's a curse behind all that. For all we know, it was only a bizarre incident."

"You're always saying that, but you've seen that there are things you can't explain through science and rational thought." -Ari insisted on the matter.

Max did not want to point it out, but throughout that conversation Ari had been acting weird. He did not why, but something was telling him the spider kwami was not telling him the whole story. Determined to find out if his suspcions were true, he asked him.

"Why do you think there's more to it in all of this? Sure, it's bizarre and all, but maybe we should take this story with a grain of salt, right?" -Max told his kwami. –"I mean, journalists tend to exaggerate things." -he said, though he had seen the photos they had published alongside the article. –"Unless, there's something you're not telling me?"

"Of course, not." -Ari declared. –"I mean… it's probably nothing, but…"

"But what? -Max insisted.

"I don't know… there's something about the name of the place where that happened. I can't say for sure. It seems familiar, somehow, but I can't remember how or why." -Ari told him.

Max knew by now that when a kwami said things like that, one must always be vigilant.

"Are you sure?" -he asked him.

"Like I said, I don't know. It might be just my memory playing tricks on me." -Ari admitted. After living for so many centuries, like all the kwamis, sometimes his memory played tricks on him, fusing memories together, thus creating memories that did not go the way they really did. –"When you live as long as I have, sometimes you tend to imagine things that never happened."

"Well, if it's any consolation, you don't look like you have the age you have." -Max joked, trying to lighten the mood. –"But you might be right. It's probably your memory playing tricks on you. Just in case, maybe we should tell this to Master Fu tomorrow, when we go visit him." -he suggested.

"Indeed. Better safe than sorry, they say." -Ari agreed with Max, wishing that all of that was just a false alarm of sorts.

* * *

It was almost 10 p.m. when Nathaniel finally stopped drawing. His work desk was filled with numerous sketches, design sheets and unifinshed sketches, which he deemed unworthy of being finished, or that he had lost interest. You could say his desk reflected the rest of the bedroom. If one looked at the desk, it would not understand what was good, and what was not. Still, it did not matter if no one could see the difference. As long as he did, he was fine with it. He had been drawing for nearly four hours, having started right after he finished his homework. He was so focused on his drawings, that when his mom brought his dinner, he almost did not hear her knocking at the door. It was Mulan, his kwami, who had been silently observing him drawing that snapped him back to reality, by warning him of the knocking at the door.

Eating the pizza his mom had made for him, with a little help from Mulan, who helped him, by eating half of it in a heartbeat, Nathaniel went back to drawing. He had been working on that project for nearly three months, and after battling with it for three months, he finally finished drawing it. The first issue of the Miraculous Team Origins webcomic. He had had the idea of drawing a comic book, where he would tell how they got their powers, ever since he and his friends began to protect the city of Paris. He talked to the others about it, and they all agreed it was a great idea, as long as he changed a couple of things. And that he did. He used only a couple of details of what really happened in the story, omitted the kwamis and gave each one of the heroes a different civilian name and background. That way, no one would ever suspect that he himself was one of the Miraculous Heroes. Looking at the final panel, which showed the whole team on their backs, on top of a building, looking at the sunrise, with the Eiffel Tower in the background, he could not help but to smile, happy with the result.

"Not one to brag about it, but I think it came out way better than I anticipated… at least for an origin story. Don't you think so, Mulan?" -Nathaniel said, as he turned his eyes to his kwami, seeking his approval, only to find out he was already asleep. –"Guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow for your judgement on this." -he whispered to his kwami, who had fallen asleep.

Taking a closer look to his own work, Nathaniel tried to see if there was something he should improve. He was satisfied with the story, but when it came to the drawings, he himself was his fiercest critic. Looking at the final panel, he wondered if this one was really the way he wanted it to be, or if he could add anything else. After staring at it, for nearly a minute, the redhead decided there was nothing to change in it, and proceeded to colour it. Once it was coloured, he could consider it finished and ready to be uploaded. He was going to ask Alya to publish it on the Miraculous Blog, the very next day, after he showed it to everyone, which he hoped would love it. The blog was the perfect place for it, where anyone who was a fan of Paris' heroes could read it.

" _I can't wait to start on the second issue. I have big, but very big plans for this webcomic._ " -Nathaniel thought to himself. He knew he would not be the first, or the only one writing and drawing a webcomic about the Miraculous Heroes. There were already hundreds, if not thousands of other artists doing it, not to mention the "official comics", titled "Tales of the Miraculous Team" by one of the largest comic book publishers in Europe. But he wished to be the best of them all, and with his insight on every adventure they had had, he could be one step ahead of everyone. –" _I can already see how I'm going to write the next issue, featuring our fight against Gargantua._ " -he mused, looking at an initial sketch of the first enemy he went up against with his friends, he had sketched a couple of days before.

The redhead had school in the morning, but his artistic vein was restless, and compelled him to continue to work on the last panel. As he finished colouring Carapace, he moved on to his own superhero persona, Panda Rouge. As he he coloured him, he could not help but to think that he had given his hero persona a very girlish face.

" _Maybe I should change him a bit._ " -Nathaniel thought to himself, smiling. –" _I don't know if I want people to think that I'm a girl._ " -he joked about it.

He kept working, until his eyelids began to feel extremely heavy. He tried to keep his eyes open, just so he could finish that panel. But his sleepy eyes, as well as most of his body was begging him to go to bed. Still, in an unusual fit of stubbornness for himself, he decided that he would not go to bed until finishing what he had started.

" _Perhaps, if I shut my eyes just for a bit, I'll gain that little bit of energy that I'm lacking, to finish this._ " -Nathaniel thought to himself.

Reclining on his chair, Nathaniel closed his eyes, hoping that a few moments with his eyes closed, would be enough to gather that last bit of strength he so desperately needed. He kept telling himself that he was going to shut his eyes for a few seconds, over and over. But, a few second after he closed his eyes, he was sound asleep. His mind quickly took him on a trip to dreamland, where he saw himself in one of the most surreal landscapes he had ever seen. The whole thing looked like he had jumped into one of Salvador Dali's famous paintings, filled with melting watches, petrified trees and numerous animals. Taking control of the dream, he quickly went through one of the melting watches, and saw himself covered in black and white ink, only for a mirror to appear in front of him, out of the blue, and he looking at his own reflection.

"Groovy! Now I'm a living, walking clock." -Nathaniel laughed, as he looked at his reflection in the mirror, where the clock hands kept moving, as if they were attached to a real clock.

As he walked around, he told himself that that was one of the wackiest dreams he had ever had. And that's when it hit him. He was dreaming, and henceforth, he was sleeping, and that was the last thing he wanted right then. Determined to wake up, and going back to work, he focused on the idea of waking up, repeating the words "I must wake up", over and over, forcing himself to wake up. And as if by magic, he opened his eyes and saw himself back in his bedroom. Looking at his alarm clock on top of his nightstand, he saw that he had slept for about half an hour. Stretching his arms, he felt like he was ready for anything.

" _Whoa, what a wacky dream…_ " -Nathaniel mused to himself. –"I got to stop watching so many art documentaries."

But as he was about to go back to work, he noticed that something was not right. His desk was empty. Every single one of his drawings, sketches and design sheets were gone. On top of that, there was no sign of Mulan, anywhere. That only was enough to make the redhead feel that something was not right.

"Mulan? Mulan? Where did you go, buddy?" -Nathaniel asked out loud, hoping to hear an answer, which never came. –" _What's going on here? Where did Mulan go? He never leaves the room without me._ " -he thought to himself.

Laying on his desk, was a single paper sheet, with a drawing Nathaniel did not recognize as one of his.

"What the… I don't remember drawing this guy. In fact, it's not even my lineart." -Nathaniel said, as he picked up the drawing and looked closely at it, studying it.

The drawing was of a warrior in samurai armour, wielding a twin bladed sword. He did not recognize the lineart, but he was absolutely sure it had not been done by him. As good as he was, the warrior looked like it was about to jump out of the paper, and he was still a couple of years from mastering that kind of drawing. And then, as if it had read the redhead's mind, the man in the drawing seemed to have looked at him. He knew that was not possible, but before he could dismiss as his imagination, the drawing moved, looking him in the eyes, startling him. The next thing he knew, the drawing began to glow, and the tip of a sword sprung from it at full velocity, missing Nathaniel's head by centimeters. Letting go of the drawing, he fell from the chair, wondering what was going on. Something inside him, told him he had not woken from the dreaming he was having, and was still sleeping. Trying to wake up, he began repeating the very same words as he did before, while at the same time, the armoured man in the drawing emerged from it. Brandishing his sword, he quickly attacked Nathaniel, who managed to get out of his way. Even knowing he could not get hurt in a dream, the redhead did not wish to be pierced, or otherwise hurt by that man in armour.

" _This is only a dream. This is only a dream…_ " -Nathaniel kept saying to himself. –" _But, if it's only a dream, why do I feel scared?_ " -he thought to himself, as he dodged yet another attack from his opponent. Fear was beginning to take hold of him, but deep down, something told him to be brave and to face his opponent, the way he faced every villain that showed its ugly mug in Paris, courtesy of Hawk Moth. –" _This may be just a dream, and I may not have Mulan to lend me his powers, but I can take down this guy by myself, After all, this is still my dream, and I'm the only one who gets to say what happens in it!_ "

Grabbing the first object he saw, which was a baseball bat, he swung it against the man's head, only for him to grab it and crush it, before grabbing Nathaniel by the neck, who was taken by surprise, by just how powerful he was. Struggling, Nathaniel tried to force him to release him, but his grip on his neck was getting tighter and tighter; it all felt too real to be a dream, or in that case, a nightmare. And then, the creepiest thing happened. Holding him in the air, with one hand, and pointing his sword at his face, the armoured man said:

"Miraculous…"

And then, Nathaniel opened his eyes. His heart was racing like a maniac in his chest, and his breath was irregular. He could not remember the last time he had had a nightmare like that one. And then, it hit him. Was he really awakened, or was he still asleep? The doubt in his mind was justified, given that he had just awakened from a dream, within a dream. Looking around, he tried to see if he was really back in his bedroom. The first thing he did was to check if Mulan was still sleeping where he was, and he was. That, was already a good sign, but seeing his room the way he had left it, and his desk, where every single one of his sketches and design charts were, was proof that he was really awaken. But, just to be sure, he pinched himself.

"Ouch… yeah, now I'm definitely awaken." -Nathaniel sighed in relief, as his heart slowly began to beat slower. –"What a nightmare…"

It had been a nightmare. There was no other word to describe it. And for whatever reason, the more he thought about it, the more Nathaniel remembered every little detail of it, which was unusual, because after waking up, the more people try to remember about a dream they had, the harder it is for them to remember it. What was happening to him, was the precise opposite of it. He remembered everything… at least, the part where the mysterious armoured man showed up. He could not help but to feel that that was no ordinary dream. Looking at Mulan, he thought about waking the red panda kwami and tell him all about it.

" _Maybe I should… but he's sound asleep. I don't want to wake him up._ " -Nathaniel thought to himself. –"I'll tell him in the morning. Besides, this was probably just the result of me watching too much television, drawing too much, and lack of sleep, that's all." -he said.


	7. Danger, Miraculous Team

When the alarm clock rang, Marinette turned it off, and went back to sleep. She had a rough time completing her homework the previous night, and stayed up until nearly 1 a.m., just to finish it. And when she finally finished it, she cursed herself for having chosen the person she did for her report, on account of there being very little information on the Internet. Still, with a little help from Tikki, the blue-haired girl managed to finish it, and celebrated the fact by crawling to her bed, wishing the night add a couple of extra hours, so she could sleep peacefully, without no one bothering her.

Unfortunately, that was one wish no one could grant her, and she would have to settle for the same number of hours as everyone who went to bed at the same time she did. Knowing she would fall asleep, after she turned off her alarm clock, she set a few more to help her get out of bed. But, when the second rang, she almost instinctively turned it off. And she did that with the third one, and the fourth one, until there were no more alarms to disturb her. Luckily, Tikki, who was also sound asleep, heard the last alarm before Marinette turned it off, knowing it was time for the two of them to wake up. Flying to Marinette's bed, the little scarlet kwami tried to wake her up, whle looking at the clock. If she did not get out of bed in the next five minutes, she was going to be late, and that was the last thing Tikki wanted.

"Marinette… Marinette, wake up!" -Tikki exclaimed, gently touching her face. –"Come on, Marinette, it's time to wake up." -she kept calling for her.

"Five more minutes, please…" –Marinette said, as she turned her head to the side, snoring loudly.

"Marinette! Wake up! You're going to be late!" -Tikki exclaimed to her ears, as she pinched the girl's cheeks, hoping to wake her up. –"Come on, if you don't wake up, you'll be tardy and Miss Bustier will have no other option but to send your parents a report card, stating that you were late and you'll get in trouble!" -she exclaimed to her. Of course, Tikki knew Miss Bustier would never do such a thing. She was too good of a teacher to do it. But she hoped the fear of such words would be enough to make Marinette spring out of bed. –"Are you even listening to me?"

"Mmmm… I'll have a piece of that delicious chocolate for dessert, mom…" –Marinette kept babbling nonsense in her sleep. Hearing her say that, Tikki guessed she was dreaming about her mother.

Knowing that she was not going to be able to wake up Marinette like that, Tikki saw no other option, but to use a more drastic measure. Usually, the blue-haired teenager had a glass of water on top of her bedside table, in case she waked up in the middle of the night and was thirsty. More than once, Tikki had dumped that same glass of water on top of Marinette, waking her up. She hated doing it, but there was no other way. Looking for it, she noticed the only things on the bedside table were the lamp and the alarm clock. There was no glass of water, which meant that Tikki would have to be creative to wake Marinette up. Quickly looking around for some object that would help her to awake Marinette, the ladybug kwami knew she had to think fast. She could go to the bathroom, grab one of the many combs or even a brush and drop it on Marinette's head, but she did not want to hurt her. She could grab one of the brushes she had in one of her drawers and try to tickle her into waking, but she feared it would take too long. Finally, she saw the object she needed to wake her up; her cell phone. She noticed this one was near Marinette's head, and that it had her headphones connected to it. It did not take long for her to come up with an idea on how to use them, to wake her up. Marinette had updated her playlist recently, and knew that she had added some powerful rock songs to it. All Tikki had to do was put the headphones on Marinette's ears, choose the right song and crank up the volume to 11.

"Sorry to do this to you, Marinette, but you leave me no other choice." -Tikki said, as she went ahead with her plan. Marinette was about to get a rerally loud, and really rude wake up call.

After placing the headphones on Marinette's ears, Tikki went through the playlist, looking for the right song. She did not want to give her a heart attack, so she chose carefully. Marinette had added incredible rock songs, but none of them seemed the right one. Finally, the scarlet kwami found what she was looking for. Evanescence "Bring Me To Life". Placing the song on the point where it becomes full blown rock and roll, and setting the volume on max, she then punched the play button. Just as she expected, as soon as the song began, Marinette practically jumped out of bed, falling on the floor, with the song echoing in her ears. Scared, confused and with her heart pounding in her chest, like a ticking clock, the girl tried to figure out what was going on, as she slowly got up.

"What the…" -Marinette said, as she took the headphones.

"Sorry, you left me no choice." -Tikki quickly apologized to her.

"T-Tikki, what's going on?!" -Marinette asked her. In the few seconds she was awake, she had figured it out that her kwami had awakened her, but she did not know why. –"Is there an akuma attack?" -she asked, not realizing it was already morning.

"Worst. If you don't get ready now, you'll be late for school." -Tikki answered her.

"Late? What do you mean by…" -Marinette said, as she turned her eyes to look at the alarm clock. Seeing the time in it, she practically screamed from the top of her lungs in fear. –"OH MY GOSH! I'M GOING TO BE LATE!" -she went on, panicking. –"I got to get ready, and got to get dressed…"

"Less talking, more action, Marinette. Hurry!" -Tikki told her, as the girl quickly took off her pajamas.

Panicking, and with the time feeling like it was going faster than it usual, Marinette quickly gathered the clothes she was going to wear that day, by picking the first thing she saw, before heading to the bathroom. Usually she would take a shower, but there was no time that morning. Instead, she just washed her face, brushed her hair and her teeth, and hoped no one would notice her sleep face. While putting her clothes on, she asked herself if she would have to use her Ladybug powers to get to school on time. She had done it once or twice in the past, but had promised herself to only do it again, in case of an emergency.

"Okay, Tikki, let's go!" -Marinette said, as she grabbed her backpack and looked at the time on her cell phone. She figured that if she skipped breakfast, and took the backstreets, she would be able to get to school on time. –"Come on, there's no time to lose!" -she said, as she was about to open the door.

"Wait, Marinette! You're forgetting something!" -Tikki warned her.

"What? What am I forgetting, Tikki?!" -Marinette asked her, wondering what could she have forgotten. –"Did I forget to pack one of my books, is that it?" -she asked her. It would not be the first time, she forgot one of the books she needed for class on her desk.

"No, it's not that… you're forgetting about your shoes, and your socks and your pants." -Tikki warned her, pointing out what she was seeing.

"My what?!" -Marinette exclaimed, as she noticed that with all the rush, she had forgotten to put on her pants and socks, as well as her shoes. The whole scene looked like a scene from a bad comedy movie, where the protagonist ends up going to school, and then finds out when he arrives in class that he forgot his pants. –"Jeez, what's wrong with me today?! It's like I woke up with just half my brain working!" -she cursed herself, as she dropped her backpack and went to finish dressing herself. –"From all the days this could happen, why today?!"

"Calm down, Marinette." -Tikki tried to calm her down, knowing she was starting to go bananas with all that.

"There! I got my pants on, and my socks and my shoes." -Marinette sighed in relief. –"I think we're good to go now!"

"Wait, you've forgotten something else!" -Tikki pointed out. –"You forgot your report!"

"OH NO! You're right!" -Marinette exclaimed. Exhausted as she was when she finished, she had forgotten to print it. Luckily, she left the file open, and all she had to do was to print it. Quickly, she went to her laptop and tried to print it. But, just like everything else that morning, it did not go the way it was supposed to be. For some unknown reason, the laptop was not letting the file be printed. This only added to Marinette's stress.

"Oh, come on! Don't do this to me! Please, don't do this to me! I need that report printed…" -Marinette pratically begged the machine.

It was just one of those mornings, when nothing went the way it was supposed to for Marinette. It was like all the unlucky superstitions in a Friday the 13th had gathered together and picked the poor girl to be the one to receive all the bad luck in the world that morning. The laptop was just not going to let her print the report she had been working so hard to finish the previous night. Already on the verge of tears, the girl finally gave up, and decided that she would explain everything to Miss Bustier, and ask her to email it to her, when she got back home.

"I give up… come on, Tikki, let's go!" -Marinette said, frustrated. Tikki, who immediately entered in Marinette's backpack, wanted to say something, but realized it was better if she stayed quiet, at least until Marinette calmed down a little. By experience, she knew that when dealing with a frustrated person, it's always best to let the person calm down, before engaging in conversation.

As she went down the stairs, Marinette's kept cursing her luck on that morning. And the worst part, was that she had no one to blame, but herself for it. If she had printed the report when she finished it, she would have it now, ready to be handed to her teacher. And most importantly, if she was not such a sleepy head, she would have woken up earlier, without the need of four different alarms and a kwami to wake her up. Not feeling like talking to no one, she went out through the backdoor, telling herself she would text her parents later.

It was a sunny morning, but it was also a cold one. Running as fast as her legs could, and fuelled by the rage she had in her system, Marinette told herself she would get to school on time, even if that killed her. The chilling cold on the street was enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey, but she did not mind. Right then, all that mattered was to get to school, before the bell rang. She was so focused on making it on time, that she was almost run over by a car. Inside the backpack, Tikki could hear everything, and worst yet, feel everything, as her little body was thrown against all the contents inside the backpack.

"Take it easy, Tikki. Marinette's mad, and that's okay. She'll apologize to you later. You know she will." -the little kwami kept telling herself that. She knew once Marinette calmed down, everything would be alright, and that she would apologize to her for shaking her backpack that much, while running like crazy.

As she passed by a bakery, where they had just placed a beautiful freshly baked batch of chocolate croissants on the display window, her nose caught the delicious aroma of those pastries in the air, and made her regret she had skipped breakfast. Still, she tried to take that thought of her mind, so as to focus on what she was doing, which was proving to be a hard task. Even going through the backstreets, the time she had lost trying to print out her homework had affected her initial calculations. She was running super late, and she knew it. Looking at the time, there were only five minutes until the bell rang, and she was still six blocks away from school. As she kept running, she knew there were only two ways she would get there on time. First, she could turn into Ladybug and use her powers to get there in a jiffy. Or second, she could run even faster than she already was and risk having a heart attack. The choice was obvious… she was going to run even faster. Her stubbornness to prove to herself that she did not need to power up to get to school on time had gotten the best of her rational thought. Every step she took it felt agonizing. Her legs felt like they were about to given in. Her lungs felt like she was exhaling fire and brimstone. Even with all her superhero training and her slight superhuman strength and resistance when not using her powers, it was getting harder and harder to go on.

" _Come on, Marinette! Just a little longer… you can faint when you reach class…_ " -Marinette kept telling herself, so she would not pass out. –" _Come on, you can do it! What kind of superhero are you, if you can't even handle a little jogging?!_ " -she thought.

The clock on the playground of Collège Françoise Dupont marked 8:29 a.m., as most students finished their early morning conversations, on their way to classes, which would begin in a minute. Alya had just arrived, when she saw Alix, who was making her way up to class.

"Hey, Alix!"

"Hey, there, Alya." -Alix greeted her, noticing she looked a little tired. –"What happened to you?"

"My sisters, the twins, they got sick, and because Nora is out of town in a tournament, my dad was working a double shift and my mom is in Zurique, in a conference for chefs, I had to be the one to take them to the hospital. Turns out, they caught a nasty case of cold. We only came out of there a couple of hours ago. It might not lok like it, but I only slept for three hours tonight." -Alya sighed, absolutely bushed. –"When they got home from school, they were sneezing a lot, but I thought it was nothing. But then, after dinner, they begun to cough up a lot, so I took them to the hospital. I hardly had time to update the Miraculous Blog and do my homework, which by the way, it's absolute crap. Miss Bustier is going to give me a 0 for it." -she said.

"Whoa, that's harsh." -Alix told her. –"But I'm sure if you tell Miss Bustier about it, she'll let you deliver the report on Monday." -she suggested her. –"But what about your sisters? Are they better now?"

"They will be. I left them sleeping. My dad got home before I came here, and I told him what happened. I told him they were medicated, and that I had texted their teacher, saying they would not go to school today." -Alya said, as she was forced to sat on the stairs. –"It's going to be a couple of days, before they can go back to school. But, at least it's just a cold. Once the treatment kicks in, they'll be better in an instant." -she sighed. –"

"I don't know about that… from the look in her face, I guess Marinette's not having a good morning." -Alix pointed out, as the blue-haired girl entered the school.

Against all odds, Marinette had managed to arrive at Collège Françoise Dumpont, seconds before the classes begun. Taking deep breaths, she tried to catch back her breath, as her legs gave in and she ended up on her knees. She did not know if she was going to pass out, but she did not mind. She did not mind if she was exhausted, or if her lungs felt like they were burning as hot as the inside of a volcano, or if her legs felt like jello, along with the rest of her muscles, or that right then, she had the creepiest and awkwardest smile ever on her face. All that she minded about, right then, was that she had managed to arrive on time, without the need of using her superpowers. Seeing her friend like that, Alix quickly went to check on her, followed by Alya, who was doing her best to keep awaken, given she was feeling like a zombie.

"Marinette, are you alright?" -Alix kneeled in front of her.

"Girl, what happened?"

Marinette tried to talk, but no words came out of her mouth. Exhausted as she was, she was going to take a couple of minutes to come up with the energy to talk. Luckily, her friends did not need to wait for her to start talking again. Not when they knew her kwami was inside her backpack, as always. Kneeling next to Marinette, Alya leaned a little bit forward, as she opened her friend's backpack, and saw Tikki waving at her. Like her holder, she too looked like she had just run the Paris Marathon.

"Tikki, what happened?" -Alya asked her.

"Marinette's having a complicated morning." -the scarlet kwami told her.

"Complicated how? Nevermind, you and her can tell us everything later. Let's just get her to the classroom." -Alya told Alix, as she closed Marinette's backpack.

Grabbing her by the shoulders, the two girls helped Marinette up to their classroom, where the rest of the class was waiting for Miss Bustier to show up. Some were talking to each others' in their seats, while others were just leaned against Miss Bustier's desk, watching something on the cell phone and commenting on it. The exception to the rule was Nathaniel, who once more, was on his seat, drawing, like he always did on his free time. And just like it always happened before the teacher arrived, his kwami was watching him drawing, while resting on his left shoulder. Nathaniel had not yet told him about his crazy nightmare the night before. It was not that he did not want to, he had just forgotten about it.

As the bell rang, Alix and Alya entered the room, holding Marinette, the others stopped what they were doing and asked them what had happened.

"Whoa, what happened to her?" -Max asked them

"Another case of runninglatis, isn't it?" -Kim joked about it. It was not the first time this happened with Marinette, and something told him it would not be the last either.

"Not funny, Kim, not funny at all." -Alix shot at Kim, while giving him the stink eye.

"Jeez, I was just joking about it" -Kim said. He was just, as always, trying to make a joke about the situation. He did not want people to get mad at him. –"You know how Marinette is. She's always running late. But that's a good thing… that means, she'll be running late to her own funeral, right?" -he kept joking, which only earned him the stinkeye not only from Alix, but also from most of the class. Alis herself just wanted to pay him back in his own coin, by telling him a couple of things, but decided not to, instead focusing on her friends.

"Is she alright?" -Adrien asked them.

"We'll see in a moment." -Alya answered huim, as she helped Marinette to her seat. Once she was seated, Alya let her breathe, as the rest of the class, and the kwamis who also showed up, gathered around Marinette to see if she was alright. When she felt she had catch up her breath, and was able to speak again, Alya decided to question her. –"Marinette, are you okay? Do you need anything?"

"N-No… just super tired, and hungry…" -Marinette said, between breaths.

"She skipped her breakfast to get here on time." -Tikki told Alya.

"Not the best idea." –Rose declared.

"You got that right. Trying to do what she did, on an empty stomach, not only it's a bad idea, it's also unhealthy." -Fint added, to which Rose agreed.

"Why didn't you just transform?" -Adrien asked her.

"I… just wanted… to get here on… time…" -Marinette told him. –"Wanted to prove… that I don't need… my powers to get here."

"Don't take this as an offense, Marinette, but that's just stupid." -Chloe told her. In the old days, Marinette would have wanted to rip her throat for calling her that. But now, she knew the blonde did not mean those words to be taken as insult, but more like a statement. –"Why shouldn't you use your powers, if you were running late? I mean, all of us have used them for our own benefit, once or twice, before." -she said.

"Like I said, Chloe… I wanted… to prove I could it…" -Marinette insisted on the matter.

"She has been acting stubbornly since she got up." -Tikki said. –"I think I might be the one to blame it. I had to blast some music into her ears, for her to wake up." -she admitted.

"Still, you shouldn't have done it." -Juleka said.

"Indeed. It's not healthy to do such a thing." -Tamara added. Just like it happened with Flint, the raven kwami agreed on what Marinette did to have been dangerous to her health.

"At least tell us you brought something to eat, once you got here, girl." -Alya said.

"No…"

"From all the dumb things…" -Alya waved her head, while turning to Nino. –"Nino, do you have something in your backpack you can give her to eat?" -she asked him, knowing that Nino usually kept a few snacks, mostly crackers, cookies and energy bars, on him for emergencies.

"Sorry, but I ran out of those on Wednesday, and still haven't restocked." -he told her.

"I can go to downstairs and buy her a chocolate from one of the vending machines near the auditorium." -Ivan suggested.

"No, she needs something a little more nutritious." -Sabrina said, as she went to retrieve something from her backpack. Grabbing what she was looking for, she quickly went back to where the others were. She was about to give it to Marinette, when the wolf kwami, Mika, stopped her.

"Hey, kiddo! That's my sweet bread!" -Mika protested. Sabrina had bought it just for him, and he was anxious to taste it, especially because this one was filled with ham sausage, which he had gained a taste for since the beginning of the winter. –"Come on, I'm sure one of you have something in your backpacks you can spare her. Don't tell me you're going to let an innocent kwami, like me, to starve to death, are you?" -he said, which only earned him the stink eye from the rest of the kwamis.

"Don't be like that, Mika." -Sabrina told him in a sweat voice, while gently caressing his head, knowing he loved dhe she did that. –"I'll buy you a new one, when we go home, okay? Marinette needs it more than you do, right now." -she smiled.

"Oh, alright, I guess it's for a good cause. Fine, give it to her." –Mika said, knowing she was right.

"Thanks, Mika. Here, Marinette. I hope you like it." -Sabrina said, as she handed it the sweet bread to Marinette.

Smiling, she took the sweet bread from Sabrina's hands, and took a bite, savouring it, after which, she allowed Tikki to also nibble it. Marinette immediately understood why Mika was so protective of his delicious treat. She would never say it in front of her dad, but that sweet bread tasted better than the one he made. Of course, that might have been her starving stomach talking. As she ate it, she began to feel better, not only physically, but also psychologically. She began to feel like her usual self. Gone were the rage, the frustration and all the bad feelings she was feeling, when she left the house.

"Feeling better now, Marinette?" -Alya asked her.

"Much better, thanks." -Marinette answered. –"Thank you all." -she thanked her friends and their kwamis for worrying about her, as she turned her eyes to her own kwami. –"And, Tikki, I'm sorry if I hurt you or your feelings, because of my stubbornness."

"It's okay, Marinette." -Tikki smiled, as she landed on her lap. –"We all have bad days, or bad mornings, in your case." -she kept smiling. Just like she had anticipated, after calming down, the blue-haired girl turned into her usual perky self, and apologized to her. –"But in the near future, you might want to to get a few more alarm clocks to help you wake up."

"I'm with her." -Mylene agreed with Tikki. –"We don't want you to end up exhausted and in the hospital, because of a situation like this, okay, Marinette?" -she told her, with a warm and caring voice.

"Is there something wrong?" -a voice asked. It was the voice of Miss Bustier, who had just entered the classroom.

Hearing her, the kwamis quickly pretended to be nothing more than stuffed animals, with some of them even falling into the ground. The last thing they needed was for Miss Bustier to make questions about them, and obviously, finding out about the class's secret. The whole class, quickly turned back to see their teacher standing by the door, carrying her handbag, and a couple of books on her hands.

"Oh, good morning Miss Bustier!" -Rose chirped, waving at her.

"G-Good morning, Rose." -Miss Bustier waved back at her. –"Now, let me ask again, is there something wrong?" -she asked again, with a worried voice.

"Let's just say that everything is alright now, Miss Bustier." -Marinette told her, as she got up. –"I was having a really, really bad morning… but I'm better now." -she smiled.

* * *

Before they went to lunch, both Marinette and Alya had a little talk with Miss Bustier, regarding the report they were supposed to deliver her that day. Earlier, before the class began, they both explained what had happened, and Miss Bustier told them they would discuss the matter, after the class ended.

True to her word, at the end of the class, e the rest of the class headed to the cafeteria, Miss Bustier told Marinette and Alya to stay in their seats, so they could talk Seating next to them, she asked the girls to tell her everything that happened in detail. After doing it, both Marinette and Alya asked her if she could give them a little longer to send her the reports by email. The teacher, after hearing them, understood their position and granted them an extended deadline to hand her the reports.

"Of course, I will give you an extended deadline, girls." -Miss Bustier smiled.

"Thank you, Miss Bustier." -Marinette smiled back at the teacher. –"I promise you, that I'll email it to you, as soon as I get home."

"Don't worry about it, Marinette." -the teacher told her. –"And as for you, Alya, don't worry, if you think your report needs to be rewritten, you can do it and email it to later, this weekend." -she told Alya. –"It's not your fault your sisters got sick. Plus, since your mom isn't at home, and your dad is working this weekend, and you'll probably be the one taking care of your sisters, you don't have to send it right away. You can send it to me until Sunday night. What's important is that your sisters get better soon, alright?"

The way Miss Bustier spoke, combined with the sweetness and compassion in her voice, Alya just felt like hugging her, but refrained herself from doing it. It was times like these that made her and Marinette thank whatever almighty being who ruled the universe, for having granted them such a kind and wonderful teacher.

"Thank you, Miss Bustier." -the girls said in chourus.

"Anytime, girls." -Miss Bustier smiled. –"Now, you best be going. You don't want to be late for lunch, especially since we have Physical Education next." -she said. –"And don't worry, Marinette. Today's class willonce again be a yoga class, so it won't be too hard. Also, remember to eat well. I don't want one of my students to skip her meals."

"Yes, Miss Bustier. Don't worry, I will." -Marinette smiled, as she and Alya left.

As they left class, both girls thought to themselves, once again, how lucky they were to have a teacher like Miss Bustier. They took a little longer to get to the cafeteria, because Marinette was still sore from the crazy stunt she pulled that morning. Though she did not feel as exhausted as before, her aching muscles felt like she had been used as a punching bag for several hours. Alya, noticing her friend's discomfort, helped her go down the stairs, on their way to the cafeteria. Though Marinette insisted she did not need help, Alya did not listen to her, and helped her out. When they got to the cafeteria, this one was bustling with activity, as always. But on that day, it looked like it was bustling with twice the activity, all because it was Friday and that meant it was pizza day, and more importantly, suprrise dessert day. When it came to the dessert, they did not care about it, because of the custom of one of them bringing a dessert to share with the others, and on that day, it was Sabrina's turn to do it. As for pizza, both Alya and Marinette were hoping there was still some of their favourite left, pepperoni and garlic. As they got in line to be served by the lunch ladies, they quickly noticed that there was still some of it left. They had both got addicted to those toppings in their pizza a few years prior, when they visited a pizzeria with Marinette's grandmother, Gina.

With three slices of pizza each in their plates, the girls went to join the others, who had saved them seats at their usual table. Some of them had already finished their lunch, and were enjoying the dessert Sabrina had brought, home-made apple and cinnamon pie.

"This is really good, Sabrina." -Mylene complimented Sabrina's apple pie, as she ate another bite of it. –"Did you make it with your mom?"

"No. I actually made it with my dad, last night." -Sabrina smiled. –"My mom's a good cake, but my dad's the one who bakes the best cakes and pastries at home." -she giggled. –"Do you like it, Chloe?"

"I guess so. It's got a little bit too cinnamon for my taste, but generally speaking, I like it." -Chloe answered to her, as she ate another bite of it. The blonde was not a very big fan of apple pie, but she knew her best friend had made that pie with all her heart, and so, instead of saying she did not like it, she decided to tell her a sweet innocent little white lie, knowing that way she would be happy about it.

"Hey, girls. We were starting to think Miss Bustier had assigned you a couple of extra assignments and forced you to stay in the classroom, as punishment." -Kim joked.

"No, Kim, that did not happen." -Alya told him. –"And if we had been forced to stay in the classroom, at least we would've the kwamis to keep us company." -she said, as she grabbed one of the pizza slices and took a bite.

"Well, at least you'd be in good company." -Nino told Alya, as he placed his left arm over her shoulders, making her smile.

"Are you feeling better, Marinette?" -Adrien asked, as he helped himself to a piece of the apple pie. He had not said anything earlier, but he had been worried about her.

"Y-Yes, thanks for asking, Adrien." -Marinette blushed lightly. –"I'm still a little sore, but I'm better. Plus, Miss Bustier told me and Alya that today in Physical Education, we're going to do some yoga, so I'll be able to relax a little."

"Yeah, her yoga classes are perfect for us to relax." -Adrien smiled, without taking his eyes from hers.

After lunch, they went back to the classroom to get their backpacks as well as the kwamis, who had also finished eating, before hitting the locker room. While they went down the stairs, Plagg kept bragging to Adrien that he had given half of his piece of Camembert to Tikki for her to eat, while also adding that even though she did not admit it, she had actually enjoyed it, and was hoping to finally convert her into a cheese loving kwami. The whole talk sounded almost like something out of Star Wars, when Darth Vader tries to convince Luke to turn to the Dark side.

"Trust me, I know what I'm saying, Adrien! She liked it!" -Plagg kept repeating himself, inside Adrien's shirt pocket. –"She didn't admit it, but she loved it!"

"Plagg, I'm happy that you did something selfless for Tikki, but I'm absolutely sure you're not going to turn her into a cheese lover like you… which by the way, when we get home, you're going to have to brush your teeth." -Adrien told him, after smelling the Camembert on his breath.

Marinette and Tikki, who were both listening to the two of them, could not help but to giggle lightly, with the ladybug kwami commenting on it.

"If he thinks I'll ever trade cookies for stinking cheese, he's so wrong, Marinette."

"Oh, come on, I know Plagg braggs a lot, but usually what he says, does have a tendency to be true, to a certain point, of course." -Marinette pointed out. –"Aren't you going to admit that you actually enjoyed that little piece of Camembert he gave you?" -she smiled.

"Maybe a little… but that doesn't mean I enjoyed it, more than I enjoy eating cookies." -Tikki told her.

In the locker room, they all hurried to place their things in the lockers, where they would retrieve them at the end of class. Juleka, who had just closed her locker, noticed Nathaniel to her right. He was standing in front of his locker, without moving, which made her wonder if everything was alright with him. Like her, he was quiet and reserved, and only talked when had something to say, or when people interacted with him. Usually, when the class was all alone, he would, at least, be talking to his kwami, Mulan, but that was not happening then.

"What's the matter, Nathaniel? You hardly said a word today. Is everything, okay?" -Juleka asked him.

"Uh, what? Y-Yeah, everything's okay, Juleka." -Nathaniel said, as he snapped back to reality. The truth was he was still thinkning about the nightmare he had the previous night. The mysterious armoured man in it, had done quite the job of latching on to Nathaniel's subconscious, with the boy remembering almost everything about him. –"It's just that I had a dream last night, and I can't stop thinking about him." -he said.

"A dream?" -Juleka said.

"What kind of dream?"-Tamara said, who was resting on Juleka's shoulder.

"It wasn't exactly a dream, it was more like a nightmare." -Nathaniel told her, as if it was no big deal.

"A nightmare? You didn't tell me you had a nightmare." -Mulan said, as he sprang out of left pocket of Nathaniel's jacket.

"It was no big deal, Mulan." -Nathaniel told him. –"It was just a dream."

"You know, most people, when they have a really bad nightmare, they tend to to at least tell it to the persons they trust the most, or in this case, their kwami!" –Mulan said, a little upset.

"It was just a nightmare, Mulan, no biggie." -Nathaniel insisted on the matter. –"It was just a nightmare, where a guy threatens me and says the world "miraculous", okay?" -he said. –"Like I said, a nightmare."

"It depends on the kind of nightmare. I don't know if I have to remind you, but you were the first one to sense Master Fu, when he visited the dreams of everyone on the team. You're more sensitive than the others, when it comes to sensing threats that are yet to happen."

"The way you're speaking about it, it almost sounds like you're saying that I can sense when trouble is coming." -Nathaniel told him. –"I mean, if that was true, then, why can't I dream when an akuma is going to show up?"

"It doesn't work that way… some miraculous holders can sense threats, but not all of them. It's complaicated." -Mulan explained.

"What's complicated?" -Max asked, as he approached Nathaniel and Juleka.

"Nothing really. Mulan thinks that I have somehow predicted that something bad might be coming after us, in a nightmare I had." -Nathaniel said. –"By the way, what do you got there in your cell phone?"

"Oh, this? I was going to show to everyone something I found out last night." -Max said. –"Remember those mysterious gruesome murders in India, a few days ago?" -he asked him, as the rest of the class joined them. –"Well, guess what, they aren't the only ones that happened."

Max quickly showed them the article he had read the night before, of what happened in China. Like it had happened when he showed them the article regarding the murders in India, each one of them reacted differently.

"That's bizarre, to say the least." -Nino said.

"That's the world going nuts, that's what I think." -Chloe declared. Just form looking at the photos on the article, she felt sick.

"They say what happened is because of a curse?" -Rose asked, as she read the headlines.

"It's not that I don't like to know what's going in the world, but could you show us news articles about something that isn't related to murders, Max?" -Alya asked him. As an aspiring journalist herself, she knew a good journalist should always report the news, no matter how gruesome or terrible they are, but if she had to pick them, she would only report the good news.

"Where did you say this happened, Max?" -Adrien asked him.

"I didn't actually… it was in a place called Xiadu, near the Taihang Mountains." -Max answered him. –"Last tnight, when we were reading it, Ari said that it was familiar and all…"

"W-Wait! Did you say Xiadu?!" -Wayzz exclaimed, when he heard the location's name.

"Yeah, why?" -Max waved his head, carefreely.

Hearing the name of the place, Wayzz's face turned white as a sheet, and his face was not the only one that turned white, upon hearing the word "Xiadu". No, the faces of Tikki, Plagg and Tamara also turned white. And soon after, so did the others, including Ari's, who finally remembered why the name Xiadu looked so familiar.

"Oh no, no, no, no! This is bad, really bad!" -Wayzz exclaimed in panic. –"Nathaniel, the man in your nightmare, was he wearinga suit of armour? Like a samurai?!"

"Y-Yeah, now that you mention it, he looked a bit like a samurai." -Nathaniel answered him.

"Guys… guys… guys! Guys, what's going on? What's wrong? Speak to us!" -Marinette asked the kwamis. She could sense something was wrong. She just did not know what it was. Still, one thing was certain, it was something bad, because she had never seen Tikki's face that scared, ever since she met her.

"We've got to go and see Master Fu, right now!" -Wayzz exclaimed. The look of fear in his eyes was almost indescribable. And that same look was in the faces of every other kwami.

"Can't it wait after the end of classes?" -Nino asked him

"Believe us, it can't. This is more serious than any of you can possibly think." -Plagg answered him. One could hear the fear in his voice, and that was unusual for the black cat kwami, who used to be the class clown.

"But what is it, that is so serious? Answer us, please!" -Alya begged the kwamis for an answer.

"We'll explain everything, once we're with Master Fu. Just, please, teleport yourselves to the Garden of the Ancients, now!" -Trixx told her.

* * *

Marinette and the others did not understand why the kwamis were so scared. They had never seen them that way before. They tried and tried to get them to talk and tell them what was really going on. But none of the kwamis told them, stating that there was not a moment to lose, and insisted on them teleporting themselves to the Garden of the Ancients so they could talk with Master Fu.

They did so, but only because they knew time in the Garden of the Ancients moved quite differently, and they could go there, without risking missing the last class they had with Miss Bustier. Once there, the kwamis quickly looked for Master Fu, who was near the koi fish lake, peacefully meditating, without a single care in the world. As they approached him, they noticed the old man was wearing a different kind of shirt. Instead of one his usual Hawaiian shirts, he was wearing a plain white shirt, or so it appeared.

"Master Fu! Master Fu!" -Tikki yelled, as she and the other kwamis approached him, followed by the young heroes, disrupting Master Fu's concentration.

"W-What's the matter? What's wrong?" -the old man asked, sensing trouble in Tikki's voice.

"He's back, Master Fu!" -Wayzz exclaimed.

"We don't know why they're like that, master. We really don't." -Marinette told him. –"We've tried to ask them to tell us what's going on, but they all insisted on talking to you." -she explained.

Sensing both fear and anxiety in the air, the old master, silently waved at them to stop talking, as he got up on his feet. If there was one thing time had taught him, over his long life, was that fear, anxiety, concern and distress, when combined were a powerful and explosive mixture, and that one should never talk when those feelings are fueling one's actions. Once there was silence, he took a deep breath, and spoke calmly.

"Alright, alright, everyone, calm down, please." -Master Fu said. –"What is going on, and please, one at the time."

"Master Fu, he's back!" -Wayzz told him.

"What are you talking about, Wayzz? Who's back? Tell me…"

"The Collector is back! He has escaped from his prison, master!" -Wayzz exclaimed.


	8. The Collector's Origin

Upon hearing those words, Master Fu’s face turned white, just like it happened with all the kwamis before. The words Wayzz said were echoing in his head, over and over. As he tried to assimilate what he had just heard, for him, time seemed to stop. Two words… hearing those two words was enough for the old man to imagine the worst. This was a threat like no other… a threat which he himself did not know much about, because he had never faced it. But what he knew of it, was enough to know that the heroes were walking into something way over their heads.  

“Master Fu? Master Fu?! Master Fu, do you hear us?!” -Marinette called the old master. –“Master Fu, are you there?”

“Uh, y-yes, Marinette… forgive me.”

“Master, this is bad! This is really bad!” -Wayzz exclaimed. –“It’s all over the news! The seal has been broken!”

“First, of all, who is this Collector?” -Alya asked him.

“What are we going to do?!” -Muria asked.

Realzing everyone was talking at the same time, he once again asked them silently to stop talking. He needed the silence to focus, and think on what they were going to do next, primarly him. He knew the young heroes had questions, and those questions needed to be answered. But before he could answer any questions they had, one thing had to be done.

“First of all, we’re going to need some tea…” -Master Fu said, as he began walking towards the temple. –“Are you coming, or are you just going to stand there?” -he asked them.

Silently nodding, the heroes followed him. As they walked to the temple, none of them, not even the kwamis spoke a word. Inside their minds, questions began to pile up, and the fact the old master was taking his time to answer those questions, that just made them feel anxious, and worst, worried about what was really going on. Once inside the temple, he asked them to help set the table for them, as he went to make some tea. He took his time choosing which tea he was going to serve. Like everything else, he believed the right kind of tea could make the difference, when talking serious matters. Going through his vast tea collection, the old master chose chamomile tea.

Bringing the tea pot with him to the table, he gently placed it on it, as he and everyone sat. The kwamis all gathered in a single pillow that had been set on top of the table as well, near the tray with cookies Master Fu used to keep on the temple’s pantry. Grabbing the tea pot, he poured the tea into everyone’s cup, ending with filling his own, before setting the pot back in its place.

“Now that we all have a simmering cup of tea, I think we’re ready, or better yet, I’m ready for this…” -Master Fu said. Noticing Kim was about to ask a question, he signalled him to wait a moment, for he had not ended talking. –“Please, before we begin with the questions, I must ask you some, myself.” -he cleared his voice, as he turned his attention to the kwamis. –“First things, first… are you sure of what you’re saying?”

“Yes, master, we are.” -Wayzz said

“Are you absolutely sure? -Master Fu stared the turtle kwami in the eyes. For a very long time, Wayzz had been his companion, and he knew that he would not joke about something so serious. Still, he had to ask.

“It’s been a couple of milleniums, but the name of where he was imprisoned is still engraved in our memories, master” -Wayzz waved his head. –“The news article said that it all happened in Xiadu, and the way things looked in the pictures… it had to be him, master. There’s no other way to explain what happened at that place. Max, please, show Master Fu the news article.”

Doing it so, Max, quickly pulled his cell phone from his pocket and handed it to Master Fu. Because he had been meditating for numerous days, the old master had not seen or read anything, regarding what had happened in China. Scrolling down the article, he read the whole thing, while taking his time to look at the gruesome pictures. His first thought was how the media had allowed those photos to be published, while his second, was what kind of being could do such damage… though, he already knew the answer to that question.    

Once more, there was silence. The only noise one could hear was the sound of gentle breeze in the air. Looking at Master Fu’s face, none of the heroes had ever seen him do such a serious face before; not even when talking about Hawk Moth. None of them knew what exactly was going on, but if there was any doubt the matter was serious, then those were gone. Sighing, Master Fu said.  

“If what you just showed me is true, then, I’m afraid we’re in deep trouble…”

The tension in the room was getting and heavier by the second. The uncertainty of what was really going on, combined with the fact the only ones, Master Fu and the Kwamis, who could explain what was really going on, were not saying anything, was beginning to affect everyone. Chloe, who was not used to wait for anything, decided someone had to say something, and so, she broke the silence, hoping that either the old master, or the kwamis would tell her and the others what was really going on.   

“Master, could you just tell us what’s really going on, or not?! It’s because all this silence, not only it’s completely and utterly ridiculous, it’s also making me more nervous by the minute!” -Chloe complained to the old man.

“Chloe!” -Alya yelled at her. She too was nervous, but unlike the blonde, she believed that shouting would not do any good.  

“What?! It’s true, and don’t tell me you’re not nervous either!” -the heiress pointed out. –“If there’s a problem, might as well tell us the whole thing, right now, and get it over with. It’s just like when you want to take a band-aid! The faster you rip it, the less painful it will be.”

“Still, Chloe, maybe…” -Alya went on, when Master Fu interrupted her.

“No, Alya, she’s right. If what the kwamis and I think happened, really happened, then, it’s best if you too know about it, and the sooner, the better.” -the old master said, as he took a sip from his cup. –“Whether this is cause for an alarm, or not, it’s best if I tell you everything right now.” -he said. –“The reason I didn’t want to tell you about it, it’s because you already have much to worry about, and if this turns out to be just a false alarm…”

“Even if it’s just a false alarm, master, please, tell us.” -Marinette begged him.

“Yes, it’s best to know something and not need it, then not knowing it, and then need it.” -Sabrina said. –“Please, tell us what’s going on.”

“Very well. I’ll tell you.” -Master Fu said, as he took another sip from his cup. He knew all of that was no false alarm, and telling himself the opposite was no good. The heroes needed to know what was going to happen. –“What I’m about to tell you, is one of the darkest chapters in the History of the Miraculous Order.”

The way Master Fu spoke those last words, it felt like he was talking about some incredibly dark secret, that no one was supposed to know about, not even if knowing such a secret could prevent some horrible catastrophe from happening. Snapping his fingers, the Book of Prophecies appeared out of the blue, landing gently on the old master’s lap, which he opened, looking for a particular page.

“As you know, when Yao Lin created the miraculouses, he wanted to give the world protectors, who would ensure that wherever evil showed up, heroes would also show up, in order to fight it and defeat it.” -Master Fu said, as he kept looking for the page, he wanted the heroes to see. –“The original Hawk Moth was one of such evils, but there were others. Others that showed up from time to time, and different miraculouses were activated to protect the innocents, and vanquish those who upheld evil.” -he declared. –“Over the following centuries, the Miraculous Order continued the work Yao Lin had begun, by ensuring the miraculouses were only activated and given to those whose name appeared in the Book of Prophecies, thus ensuring the natural order of things was preserved. But, about 500 or so years after the death of Yao Lin, something happened, or better yer, someone happened, who threatned the world, in a way that only Hawk Moth could have done.”

Hearing those words, the heroes wondered what could have happened, and who had been responsible for it. Finally, Master Fu found the page he was looking for. In it, was the depiction of a man in a suit of armour, brandishing a double-sword, surrounded by several animals, some on the ground, others in the sky. Nathaniel immediately recognized him as the one who had attacked hi in his nightmare. But before he could say it, the old master went on, with the story.  

“Ji Danji… it’s Chinese, and it can be translated as the Collector. Not counting Hawk Moth, this man is the toughest and most incredible fiend that the holders of the miraculouses have ever faced in 5000 years.” -Master Fu said. –“And the worst part of this, was that the man who became the Collector was a part of the Miraculous Order.” -he declared.

“Part of the Miraculous Order?” -Adrein asked, shocked by what he had heard.

“Are you saying that someone in the order decided it was a good idea to put on a suit of armour and conquer the world?” -Kim asked him in disbelief.

“Well, there is more to that story than just that, but yes…” -Master Fu waved his head.   

“But what made him such a formidable enemy, master?” –Juleka asked him.

“To answer that question, I must tell you a story, Juleka.” -Master Fu answered her. –“Like I said before, this story began approximately 500 years after the death of Yao Lin. Back then, the man known as the Collector was not yet known by that name, but as Tan Rong, a young monk of the Miraculous Order.” -he said. –“Now, like all young monks, he was initiated into the order, when he was yet a little boy. And like all little boys, he grew up fascinated with the stories told about Yao Lin, the Miaraculous heroes and of course Hawk Moth. As he grew up, he studied the events that took place before he was born, as well as those who happened during his lifetime. Having come from one of the poorest regions of China, he believed that evil took on many forms, not just the ones that were thought by the Miraculous Heroes, no. He believed that evil also took om the form of famine, plagues, and other natural disasters, and that there should be a way for the Order to help those in need.”

As they heard the story, they wondered just how similar this one would be to Hawk Moth’s origin backstory. And soon, they would see that this one did not have many similarities. In fact, it was completely different from Hawk Moth’s own origin.  

“He knew, of course, that the miraculouses would be handed to those whose name showed up in the Book of Prophecies, and they would protect the people. But he feared that they were not enough. While he believed the miraculouses that Yao Lin created served their purpose, he also believed they did not serve the common good. He believed that the miraculouses should be used by people who could help everyone, everywhere, everyday, no matter what kind of problem it was … for example, if a drought menaced a village or even a region, that someone bearing a miraculous with the power to manipulate water, should be able to step in and help. Or, if a boulder rolled out into a road, blocking it, someone with a miraculous who possessed incredible strength could easily pick it up and move it to the side, or even break it.” -Master Fu went on. –“He believed that helping others was just as important as vanquishing a war lord or an assassin.”

“Basically, you’re saying that he wanted heroes with miraculouses that could help people on daily basis, the same way we do, when we go out, on our patrols, is that it, master?” -Nino asked him, making him laugh heartily.

“I couldn’t have put it into better words myself, Nino. Yes, that’s exactly what Tan Rong wanted. He wanted just that, because the Miraculous Heroes back then, they only fought major injustices, and some of them did not wear their miraculouses for very long. Some of them, wore them for a couple of months, which was the time they would take to vanquish whatever kind of evil that showed up, while others only wore them for a couple of days. It depended on the circimstances, and may I remind you that at the time of Tan Rong’s acceptance within the the Miraculous Order, the Moth miraculous was still safely encased in the box Yao Lin put it in.” -Master explained. –“Without him to cause chaos and anarchy, there was not much point in the chosen heroes to wear the miraculouses for more time than they needed to. Plus, life back then was simpler, and most people just wanted to live peacefully, without any hitches. So once their mission was completed, they would return the miraculous to the Order’s monastery, or to one of the Order’s members, who accompanied the hero or heroine in their quest, and this one would bring it back, and place it back into its box, until it was needed again.” -he added. –“Of course, occasionaly there were some miraculous holders, who decided to keep their miraculous for an extended period of time, with them even being initiated and inducted into the Order.”

“But, how did Tao Rong end up turning into the Collector, master?” –Max asked.

“Patience, please, patience.” -Master Fu spoke calmly. –“I know that I’m digressing a little, but a good story cannot be rushed, and if you want those around you to understand it fully, you must tell it without rushing it.” -he said, as he finished his cup of tea, and then pouring another one. –“Now, where was I?”

“You were talking about how some holders were initiated into the Miraculous Order.” -Pollen said. The kwamis had been silent, ever since Master Fu began to tell the Collector’s origin story, and the bee miraculous decided to break the silence.

“Oh, yes, now I remember.” -the old man said, as he placed the tea pot back on the table. –“Now, as I was saying some of the miraculous holders kept their miraculouses and eventually were inducted into the Order. Tao Rong saw this happened more than once. As he got older, he could not help but to think why those holders, who still had their miraculouses, did not go out and help others, unless there was some major evil at play. It was during one of the inductions of yet another miraculous holder, that he decided to take matters into his own hands.” -he said. –“Spending his time in the monastery’s library, he read and researched just about everything there was to know about the creation of the 14 miraculouses. Still, he could not find the scrolls, where Yao Lin had documented the creation of the miraculouses. Those, he would find out, were in the grandmaster’s quarters, which had belonged to Yao Lin, when he was alive.”

“So, he decided to steal them, and learn how to create miraculouses, right?” -Alix asked, as in her mind, she imagined Tao Rong sneaking into the grandmaster’s quarters to steal the scrolls.

“Well, he didn’t steal them… he borrowed them, and later put them back in their rightful place, Alix.” -Master Fu answered her. –“But before he returned them, he copied them, so he could calmly study them and see what he needed to do to create a new set of miraculouses.” -he said.

“And he did it?” -Nathaniel asked.

“Oh yes, he did. Following in the footsteps of Yao Lin, he decided to look for new animal spirits. But unlike Yao Lin, who had an artefact that allowed him to teleport where they were, Tao Rong had to do it the hard way, and that was to go to the places himself, by foot. That meant that he could only look for animal spirits within China, which did not mean these animal spirits were as strong, or as noble as the original ones. Once he managed to locate one, he would give an excuse to the grandmaster, saying that he was going on a spiritual retreat, which could take several days, weeks or even months.”

“And didn’t the grandmaster, or anyone else felt it strange, for him to be doing that all the time?”

“Not really, Mylene. You see, my dear, back then, it was custom for a monk to purify his soul from time to time, and the only way to do that was through meditation, usually on a spiritual retreat in the mountains.” -Master Fu said. –“But, let’s get back to the story. Going on numerous quests to find animal spirits, Tao Rong managed to capture twelve, over the course of many years. And those were the spirit animals of the dog, the horse, the rat, the tiger, the rooster, the pig, the serpent, the monkey, the rabbit, the ox, the sheep and the dragon.”

“Dog… horse… rat… are you saying that he captured the animal spirits of the Chinese Zodiac, master?”

“Indeed, he did, and it took him nearly 10 years to do so.” -Master Fu declared. –“That’s why the new miraculouses were called the Zodiac Miraculouses, because each one of them was infused with an animal spirit, from each animal in the Chinese Zodiac.”

“A-And, what kind of powers they granted their holders?” -Ivan asked, curious.

“They pretty much granred the same kind of powers as yours do, like superhuman strength, speed, stamina and agility.” -Master Fu said. –“But, each one had an ability that none of the others possessed.” -he admitted. –“The dog miraculous granted its holder telekinesis. The Ox miraculous granted its holder the ability to grow in size…”

Listening carefully, they all found out about each of the miraculouses and what powers they granted their holders. Like Master Fu had stated earlier, they were not much different from theirs, but they were still different.  

“So, the dog’s power is telekinesis, the ox grants the ability to grow in size and the rooster grants the ability to fly.” -Nathaniel said.

“The sheep enables one to manipulate and control rocks and minerals, the serpent grants invisibility and the rabbit grants supersonic speed.” -Marinette said.

“As for the dragon, its power is combustion, the monkey allows its holder to shapeshift any kind of object, and the pig allows one to possesss one’s spirit temporarily.” -Sabrina said.           

“And finally, the horse grants its user invulnerability, the rat allows one to shrink its size and the tiger grants its holder the power to summon the tiger’s animal spirit to do his bidding.” -Juleka said.

“Those are some really cool powers… I wish we had some of those in our arsenal.” -Kim said.

“Jealous?” -Alix asked him, in a playful tone.

“Nope, because I’m the fastest being alive, remember?” -Kim answered her, with a cocky voice, like he always did, whenever he bragged about that fact. 

“In your dreams, Kim! I’m the one who’s fastest being alive!” -Alix shot back at him.

“You wished! Do I have to remind you about our last race?!”

“Guys! Please, this is not the time to argue who’s best and who’s worst!” –Imp told him. The antelope kwami knew just how much his holder and Alix loved to argue with one another, but this was not the time to do it.

“Imp’s right! Just shut up about it, and let Master Fu continue the story!” -Daria exclaimed, looking Alix in the eyes.

With that little argument ended, thanks to both Imp and Daria, who managed to put some sense inside their holders’ heads’, Master Fu continued the story.

“Well, as I was saying, using everything he learned from Yao Lin’s research, he created twelve different miraculouses, with the intention to give them to those he saw as worthy of them, so they could help the people. What he did not know, was when he used the ritual Yao Lin used, to created them, the Book of Prophecies, which was in the grandmaster’s quarters, revealed another page, in which these new miraculouses were listed, along with the names of their new holders.” -Master declared. –“Upon seeing that page, the grandmaster, who had had some suspicions already, immediately went to Tao Rong. He knew that Tao Rong was interested in the matter, but he never thought he would create another set of miraculouses.”

“So, what happened? Did the grandmaster decided to expel him from the Order?” -Marinette asked the old master, as she imagined the scene, when Tao Rong was caught by the grandmaster.

“No, Marinette, he did not. He scolded him quite harshly, but he did not expel him from the Order. Instead, after seeing what Tao Rong had done, he decided that perhaps the wolrd needed more miraculouses, as long as these were used for the benefit of everyone.” -Master Fu declared. –“And since the Book of Prophecies had already listed the ones who were going to be their holders, there was no point in pretending they did not exist. And so, the Order found these holders and granted each one of them their designated miraculous. It turned out, that unlike the holders of the original miraculouses, these were different, not only in personality and traits, but also in age. Some were just mere children, while others were men and women of advanced age already. Plus, each holder had been born in the year of their designated miraculous. Still, they were handed and the holders of the new miraculouses quickly began to make use of them, making life easier for those they came across.”

“But, what do I have a feeling that something really bad happened? I mean, it had to, right?” -Adrien asked the old master.

“I’m afraid, you’re right. Something did happen… but not the way you imagine. You probably imagine that Tao Rong becsme the Collector out of greed or lust for power, just like it happened with Hawk Moth, am I right?” -Master Fu spoke in a serious voice, to which all of them nodded silently. –“But you couldn’t be more wrong about it. Something did happen, but no one could’ve predicted it, even if they wanted to.” -he sighed. –“Like I said before, when Tao Rong created the miraculouses, he used the same ritual Yao Lin used to create the original miraculouses. But  he did one mistake… because he was not as powerful, and as versatile in the ways of magic, like Yao Lin was, when performing the ritucal, Tao Rong unwillingly bested rach of the Zodiac Miraculouses with a good trait of his personality.”

“You mean like kindness, companionship, loyalty, generosity and so forth?”

“Yes, Alya, that’s exactly what I’m saying.” -Master Fu said. –“He did not know it, but he had given, or better yet, sacrficed the better parts of himself, and that would prove to be his undoing.” -he sighed. –“It took years, but the bad traits of Tao Rong’s personality slowly took over his mind and his being. Because he had sacrificed the good traits of his personality, the bad ones easily replaced them, and he turned into someone bitter, vengeful and vicious. People began to see changes in him, and he began to push away everyone he knew, until the point that he became a recluse in his own quarters. In his mind, he began to believe that because he had created the Zodiac miraculouses, that he, and only he, was worthy to use them. And so, he left the monastery and went to look for them. The first one he found was the holder of the ox miraculous. A fight broke out, and in the end, Tao Rong was victorious, due to his magical abilities, stripping the holder from its miraculous. With it in his hand, he decided that he would never let anyone else possess it. And so, he used his magic to fuse the ox kwami with its miraculous, while also shaping it into the first of twelve pieces of a mystical suit of armour, in which he would encase himself. One by one, he got all the miraculouses back from their holders and did the same thing to all of them. With each new miraculous, he became stronger, until he finally became the man known as Ji Danji, the Collector… unfortunately, the Zodiac miraculouses were not enough for him. Obsessed with the power he now wielded, he believed that only when he also had gotten his hands on the original miraculouses, would he be the most powerful being to ever walk the Earth, as well as the only one fit to judge everyone.”

“But that did not happen, right, master?” -Nino asked him.

“Luckily, it did not.” -Master Fu answered him. –“After he became the Collector, the page that I showed you in the Book of Prophecies appeared, warning the Order on what was yet to come.”

“Once again the Book of Prophecies took his time to reveal there were problems in the horizion.” -Alix said. –“Don’t get me wrong, but that book isn’t very useful, especially when it only shows things that are going to happen, when things are about to get really bad.” -she declared.

“Indeed. No one knows how the Book really works, or why did not warn the Miraculous Order on what was happening sooner… we can only speculate, that perhaps, Tao Rong only became a full menace, when he completed his suit of armour.” -Master Fu speculated. -“But back to the story, the Collector made his way to the monastery, knowing that most of the miraculouses were there, and those that were activated, would come to him.” -he went on with the story. –“On its way to the monastery, he took his time to capture, judge and execute everyone he deemed a criminal, a robber, a stalker or a killer. Using the abilities of every miraculous that were now his armour, he tortured and killed hundereds of people died in the most horrific ways one can imagine.”   

“But, why would he do that? I mean, that just made him look even worst than those he condemned and killed.” -Max asked.

“We don’t know for sure. What we know is that he did not kill a single innocent. Only those who had broken the law fell his wrath.” -Master Fu explained. –“Of course, we can probably guess that he saw himself as a champion of justice himself… a twisted one, with even more twisted morals, but still a champion of justice, and as such, he did what was expected of one.”

“At least that explains why he didn’t kill anyone who was innocent.” -Mylene commented.     

“So, what happened when he arrived at the monastery? Was there a fight? How many Miraculous Heroes showed up to fight him, and how did they stop him?” -Marinette bombarded the old man with questions. It was not her intention to do so, but just like everyone else, she was imagining the whole thing in her head, and wondered how things turned out in the end.

“One question at the time, my dear.” -Master Fu told her, as he tried to finish the story. –“Yes, he did arrive at the monastery, and the Miraculous heroes were there to stop him from getting his hands on the original miraculouses. The miraculouses that were activated back then were the ladybug miraculous, as well as the cat, the turtle, the raven and the spider miraculouses.” -he declared. –“It was a fierce battle, and the Collector proved to be a fierce combatant. The fight itself took only a few minutes, but it was a battle that would always be remembered by the Miraculous Order… the Collector still managed to get one of the original miraculouses. His plan was to get them all and bound them to a belt he had created, which would grant him the power to use the miraculouses powers at will.”  

“And then, what? How did they stop him?” -Nino asked.

“That part, I’m not entirely sure…”

“What do you mean, you’re not entirely sure? You don’t know, master?” -Ivan asked.

“I didn’t say I didn’t know, Ivan… I said that I’m not entirely sure how they did it.” -Master Fu declared. –“All I know is that the grandmaster used a powerful spell to trap the Collector inside an urn, right after the miraculous that he had taken, was recovered.” -he clarified. –“After that, it was decided that the urn would be kept in a temple, in Xiadu, and as long as no one broke the urn’s seal, or the urn itself, the Collector would never be able to escape.” -he said.  

“Not exactly the best plan, was it? I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s just that they could have come up with another idea to make sure he wouldn’t bother anyone ever again.” -Kim said.  

“But they didn’t, Kim, and there’s nothing we can do about it.” –Marinette commented.

“They did the best they could back then.” -Tikki said. Being one of the kwamis, whose miraculous was activated back then, she remembered the whole thing, and knew the Order had done their best to make sure the Collector would not see daylight ever again.

“That’s one messed up origin story.” -Alix said. –“But let me get this straight… he wanted the original miraculouses and put them in a belt?” -she asked.

“Yes, my dear.” -Master Fu asserted. –“Luckliy, that did not happen.”

Master Fu had just finished talking, when the Book of Prophecies began to glow. The book only did that when a new page appeared in it. Opening itself, the pages moved with a mind of its own, as everyone’s eyes stared at it. When it finially stopped, the new page revealed an illustration that would make even the bravest of men shiver with fear. In this one, the Collector showed up, holding his bloody double-sword, with numerous dead bodies laying on the floor around him. He looked even more sinister than he did on the page Master Fu had showed them before. At his feet, there was a broken urn; no doubt the one where the Collector was imprisoned in. But there were also other small details in the illustration, which caught the eye of Alya.   

“Another page… and this one shows the Collector coming out of the urn where he was and slaughtering everyone around him.” -Alya said, as she, along with everyone else, looked at the page. –“And look… what do you make of these?” -she pointed out  -“That looks like the Taj Mahal and the other one, it looks like the Eiffel Tower, surrounded by some spots?”

Upon hearing those last words from Alya, an idea popped up in Sabrina’s mind. Being the daughter of a police officer, she was used to hearing her father discuss numerous cases at home, and for the last couple of days, her father had been talking about the strange and bizarre murders that happened in India, which was the main topic of conversation at the precint. He had said that the Indian authorities had contacted the French police, on a hunch, thinking that maybe Hawk Moth could be involved in it, requesting them to share everything they had on the nefarious villain. In the end, it all turned out to be a dead end in the investigation, as her father told her. But now that the existence of the Collector was made known to her and her friends, she wondered, if perhaps those killings had been the work of him?  

“Do you think those gruesome murders in India from a few days ago were the Collector’s doing?” -Sabrina asked.

“You might be on to something there, kiddo!” -Mika told Sabrina, remembering what he had read about those murders and on what he had heard her dad saying about the whole affair. –“If those guys were criminals, then, they would be the kind of targets the Collector loves.” -he said.   

“If they were, that means he’s on the move.” -Rose said, shivering just from the thought. –“But, if the Taj Mahal symbolizes what happened in India, what do you think these dots around the Eiffel Tower mean?”

“I don’t want to speculate, but could those dots symbolize our miraculouses?” –Mylene commented.

“That seems right.” -Marinette agreed. –“And if so, this whole illustration means that the Collector, like a genie, is out of the bottle, and he’s coming here, to finish what he began all those milleniums ago.” -she said in a serious, almost sinister tone.


	9. No Other Way

The idea of having a supernatural being, who had been locked away for nearly 4500 years, hunting them was not a pleasant one, but Marinette and her friends knew, that whether it was a pleasant idea or not, it was the truth. The Collector was somewhere between India and Paris, making its way to the French capital, so he could finish what he had started to long ago. They tried to look calm and relaxed, but on the inside, they were frightened. The only ones more frightened than them, were the kwamis themselves, especially Tikki, Plagg, Wayzz, Ari and Tamara, who had dealt with the Collector before, and knew just what he was capable of. Noticing she was scared, Marinette gently grabbed Tikki and placed her against her chest, so as to calm her down.

“Don’t be afraid Tikki.” -Marinette told her. –“Everything is going to be alright, you’ll see.” -she assured her, though the truth was, she did not know if everything was going to be alright.  

The silence that fell upon them, after hearing how the Collector came to be, was different from the silence that existed, while Master Fu was talking. This new silence was eerie, almost sinister. They all wanted to break it, but seemed afraid to do it. None of them there, knew what to say. They were afraid to say the wrong thing, as if doing that, would jinx them, and they did not need that. Seconds looked like hours. Eventually, someone decided that that silence was absolutely unpleasant, and broke it, and that someone was none other than the class’ cocky jock, Kim.   

“Just what we needed… it’s bad enough we have to deal with a psychopath who wants us dead, along with his cronies, on a daily basis. But now, we have a second psychopath who wants us dead, and wants her miraculouses and our kwamis.” -Kim sighed in frustration. Usually loved to hear the sound of his own voice, but not right then. Right then, he just wanted to break that silence between them all, even if that meant saying the first thing it came to his head.   

“We don’t know if he wants us dead, Kim.” -Mylene told him. While telling the story, Master Fu had not said if the Collector had killed the holder of the miraculous the villain had managed to get his paws on, temporarily. –“Did he kill him, Master Fu?” -she asked the old man.

“No, he did not.” -Master Fu declared. Upon hearing those words, Mylene felt a little better. But only for a single second, because what the old master said next, made her heart tremble with fear, and her blood to freeze. –“But he left him in a pretty bad shape. If the other heroes had not stopped him, he would have not survived the injuries.”

That last sentence just confirmed the team’s worst fears. The Collector was a very powerful enemy, and from what Master Fu had told them, he was not going to let anyone or anything stand in the way of his mission. But fear was one thing they could not have in that moment. And Marinette knew it. As the team’s leader, she was the one whom the others turned to for guidance and support in those situations. Like them, she was trembling at the thought of what could happen, when the Collector arrived in town and decided they were not worthy of their miraculouses. So, pushing that fear aside, she decided the others needed to hear some words of encouragement… as well as her. Holding Tikki against her chest, she took a deep deep breath, before standing up and looking at her friends in the eyes.    

“Look, I know you’re all afraid. I’m also afraid, but we can’t let that fear prevent us from doing what we do best, and that is to fight anyone, or anything that threatens our city and those who live in it.” -Marinette declared. –“Sure, he may be big, and bad, and he might even be more powerful than Hawk Moth and his gang of minions, but we can’t cower in fear, and hope he goes away!” -she exclaimed. She did not know where those words were coming from, but she figured they could only come from one place… her heart. Ever since she was little, that Marinette was able to do that, as long as she talked from her heart. The problem was, that most times she would let her brain do the talking, instead of her heart. –“In the words of Yoda, “Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.”, and we cannot let ourselves be controlled by our fears. We must stand together, and come up with a way to defeat the Collector, just like the heroes before us did.”     

That inspiring and moving speech from Marinette was received with a big round of applauses from everyone there, inclusing Tikki, whom she felt clapping her hands. But more than that, it gave everyone the strength and the determination they needed to keep going. On top of that, it once more proved that when they all chose Marinette to be their leader, they had made the right choice. Her sweet, yet determined voice had the outstanding power to both tranquilize and agitate a person in the right way.  

“Well said, Marinette.” –Master Fu smiled at her.

“Yeah, well said, Marinette.” -Tikki said, making Marinette to look down, just to see the scarlet kwami smiling, while winking an eye at her.

“Way to go, girl!” -Alya applauded her best-friend’s words.

Marinette smiled. She was happy her words had cheered up everyone. But more importantly, her words had also lifted her spirits up, and now she was hopeful they would all come up with a plan to stop the Collector, once he arrived.

“You’re right, Marinette, we can’t let fear get the best of us.” -Ivan smiled at her.

“That Collector will not know what hit him, by the time we finish mopping up the floor with him.” -Chloe said with a cocky voice, imagining herself beating up the Collector with a well-placed butterfly kick, just above the chin.

“And when we defeat him, maybe we’re able to get the Zodiac miraculouses back.” -Alix added.

Upon hearing that remark, Master Fu remembered that he had forgotten to tell them about the fate of the Zodiac miraculouses, and felt that that knowledge gap had to be filled.

“I’m afraid that’s impossible, Alix.” –Master Fu declared.

“Why do you say that, master?” -the pink haired girl asked him.

“Because, in order to create his armour, the Collector used a powerful spell that fused the kwamis with the miraculouses, almost the same way that Hawk Moth did with his own miraculous.” -Master Fu explained to her. –“That is why we can’t get them back.” -he said. –“I wish it was possible, especially because it would be a good thing in getting those miraculouses back, and who knows, even finding a way to grant some piece to Tao Rong’s spirit, but I’m afraid that’s out of our reach.”

It would be nice to do that. That was what they were all thinking. But if what Master Fu told them was true, then, the odds of that ever happening were pretty much null. But that explanation did not just ended expectations, it also raised one question, a question that popped up in Max’s mind.   

“Then, if that’s true, why it that the miraculous that was taken

“Because the belt in which he was going to place them, was not completed. If he had managed to get the very last miraculous into the belt, these would have all fused with it, and the original miraculouses would have been lost forever.” -Master Fu explained. –“But, the miraculous heroes managed to get it back, by pulling it out of the belt, returning it to its holder, just before the Collector was trapped inside the urn.” -he said.

“Well, that’s a bummer…” -Nino sighed. –“It would be nice to have a couple of extra hands in our fight against Hawk Moth.” -he said.

“Yes, and no… it would be great to have more help to fight off Hawk Moth. But can you imagine keeping tracks on twelve more miraculouses?” -Adrien joked about it. –“It’s already hard for us to keep tabs on who’s using which miraculous, so if we added another full set to the situation… instead of the Miraculous Team, we would be the Miraculous Army.” -he said.

“Miraculous Army… don’t know why, but that feels like something taken out of one of the Harry Potter’s books.” -Rose giggled.

“Indeed. Still, if there’s nothing we can do about it, might as well forget about it, and focus on what we know.” -Alya commented.

“You’re right, Alya. And what we know is that the Collector is own its way. So, what are going to do?” -Adrien asked. He had figured they would have to fight him, but they would need a plan; one that did not involve them surrendering their miraculouses to them, or dying in the process.

“Maybe… maybe we could find a way to trap him again?” -Rose suggested. –“I mean, it was gone once, it could be done again, right master?” -she said, her voice filled with hope, which quickly spread like wildfire in the hearts of her friends; hope, which was always considered by people, to be the last thing to die.

“Maybe… but there’s a problem with that, my dear.” -Master Fu said. As he pronounced those words, the same feeling of hope that the blonde had given everyone with her words, mere moments before, disappeared as quickly as it had flourished before.  –“I don’t know what was the enchantment that was used by the grandmaster back then, to trap him in an urn.”

When they heard those words, two things happened. First, that glimpse of hope Rose had given them earlier with her idea, vanished. And second, they all asked themselves on how could Master Fu not know about that enchantment? Of course, they knew Master Fu was not old enough to have witnessed the Collector’s downfall. That would be ridiculous, especially when he himself had told them that he was about 300 years old, and that whart he knew about the Collector, was because of what he had heard and read about. Still, something so important should have been made knowleadgable by the order, and by the Miraculous heroes themselves. At least, that was what they were all thinking. It did not take long for one of them to question Master Fu regarding that fact.

“How is that possible, master?” -Nino asked him. –“A thing like that should have been written in a scroll or anything of the sorts, just in case something like this happened.” -he said.

“You must understand… although some of the knowledge from the Miraculous Order has survived, while being safely stored in this temple’s library, most of it was lost in the sands of time.” -Master Fu said. –“We’re lucky in having what we have in this library, because most of it was either destroyed or simply lost.” -he declared, knowing that was not the heroes wanted to hear.

“B-But you can try and look for it, can’t you, Master Fu?” -Rose asked her, hopeful that he might do it.

“I can try, but I can’t promise you anything.” -Master Fu said. He did not want to give them false hopes, though deep inside, he wish he could. –“I can look in the library, and see if any of the books contains any information, regarding that specific enchantment, hoping that in one of the books, someone has detailed it.” -he said, hoping that would be the case.

“And if you can’t?” -Ivan asked him, fearful of that outcome.

“Then, we’ll have to find another way to defeat him.” -Marinette said. She did not want to say that, but after what Master Fu had said, she believed that having a plan B would not be such a bad thing.  –“Let’s hope for the best, but also prepare for the worst.”  

“Well, what do you suggest?” -Adrien asked her.

“If I may… perhaps, the best thing you should do, for the time being is removing your miraculouses.” -Master Fu said. –“One thing I’m absolutely sure of, is that the Collector can sense the energy from them, and as such, they are drawing him towards you.”

“Like moths to a flame…” -Nathaniel said.

“Yes, just like moths to a flame.” -the old man said. “You don’t have to do it right away, but once you are at home, take them out and put them back in their boxes. At least, until we can find a way to defeat him.”

“B-But that means…” -Chloe stuttered, realizing what would happen, if they did that.

“Yes, Chloe, it means that we will return to the miraculuses, until you put them back on.” -Pollen told the heiress.

The bee kwami did not like the idea, and neither did the other kwamis or their holders. Ever since they had put on their miraculouses, activating them, that the kwamis had never left their side. Wherever the heroes went, the kwamis would go, there being very few exceptions. And now, it seemed the heroes were going to be forced to give up on the most extroadinary thing that had ever happened to them. They knew it would only be temporarily, but still, they did not like it, especially because they knew what would happen if they could not transform.

“B-But what happens if we need to transform to save the city? I mean, Hawk Moth could very well akumatize a person, or persons, and we won’t be able to help them.” -Mylene asked.

“Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.” -Alya told her.

“And if it does, we won’t have another option, but to put them back on to save the city.” -Marinette said. –“No matter what, we can’t, and we won’t let the people of Paris suffer because of this.” -she declared. –“But, if anyone has a better plan, I’m all ears.”

No one spoke a word. Even if they wanted to, no one had a better plan than that. They knew there were between a rock and hard place, when it came to that decision. Silently, they agreed to go with that plan, hoping that eventually, a better solution would come up.

“Then, it’s settled. Once we get home, we take out our miraculouses, and we won’t put them back on, unless there’s an emergency.” -Marinette said, as she looked at Tikki. –“I wish there was another way, Tikki, but…”

“I know, Marinette, I know.” -Tikki said.

“Very well. I’ll start researching right away. We must have hope that one of the books in the library has the spell used to capture and seal the Collector the first time. Or, at the very least, a clue as to where it could be found.” -Master Fu said, as he got up.  

“Do you want some help, master? Maybe one of us could help you with it, during our spare time.” -Max suggested, as each of the kwamis flew back to its holder.

“I appreciate the offer, my boy, but unless one of you knows how to read Old Chinese, I’m afraid you won’t be able to help much.” -Master Fu declared. –“For now, the best thing you can all do, is to keep yourselves safe, while I try to find a way for us to deal with him, on our terms.” -he said.  

“And what if you can’t? -Ivan asked him.

“Don’t say it! You’ll jinx it!” -Kim exclaimed.

“Oh, come on, don’t tell me you believe in jinxes!” -Ivan shot at Kim.

“Guys, guys, enough! Look, it doesn’t matter if one of you believes in jinxes or not. What matters is that we have to keep cool, and believe that in the end, everything will work out.” -Adrien told them both, ending what could have been a long argument, between the two.

“You tell him, Adrien.” -Plagg exclaimed.    

“Adrien is right. One must keep calm, in the face of adversity.” -Master Fu said. –“And now, you better go. I think you already stayed long enough, and you shouldn’t keep your teacher waiting.” -he reminded them. With everything that went down, that all had completely forgotten about Miss Bustier.   

“Master Fu’s right. We better go. We shouldn’t leave Miss Bustier waiting.” -Marinette said.  

* * *

Later, after classes were over for the day, everyone went straight home. But unlike most times, where they went home, filled with energy and with plans to enjoy the rest of the day, this time they were all walking slower, as if they did not want to get home a year from then. Even Adrien, who’s bodyguard had come to pick him up, like he always did, and who had orders to take him straight home, told him to make a few quick stops before heading home, stating he needed to buy a couple of things for school, and did not want to bother Nathalie with it. The later he got home, the better. Just thinking about removing his miraculous, and not having Plagg to talk with, it made him gloomier by the minute.

And he was not the only one who was feeling gloomy. All of the heroes did not like the fact that they were going to remove their miraculouses, but knew there was no other way. If the Collector could easily sense the power from the miraculouses and track them through that same power they emanated, then, they were not going to make life easier for him.

Marinette practically dragged herself towards home, making various stops on numerous shops she saw on the way. She wanted to spend as much time with Tikki as possible, before going home. The scarlet kwami realized what she was doing, and went along with it, enjoying herself and providing much needed support to Marinette. But, as the hours went by, she eventually had to tell her it was time for her to go home. Marinette did not want to, but she knew Tikki was right. She was only delaying the inevitable, and the longer it took them to get home, the harder it would be to do what it had to be done. Plus, her parents would start to wonder where she had gone to. Grabbing a bus, Marinette sat on the back, where there was no one. She needed to be alone right then, and giving the circumstances, that was the best she was going to get. Sighing, she kept telling herself that all of that would be over before they knew it.   

“Everything will be fine… remember, it’s only temporary.” -Marinette thought to herself. Ever since she had gotten the ladybug miraculous that she had wondered, from time to time, for how long she would keep it. In the best of chances, she would keep it for years, while on the worst of chances, she would only keep it for a couple of weeks. At first, she did not know if she wanted to keep it, but as time went by, she got accostumed to it, as well as Tikki, and now, she knew she could not live without her kwami, who had become like an older sister to her, and who was always there to hear her problems, her dreams, her regrets and her

Coming up on their stop, Tikki warned Marinette, who had her mind up on the clouds, to ring the bell, so they could get out. The little kwami, just like her holder, was also feeling blue about their current situation, but knew that in the end, everything would turn out fine. After living as long as she had, Tikki knew that things tend to turn out fine in the end. Though, just like Marinette, her heart hurt, just from thinking that she would have to go back into her miraculous and wait for the right time to come out again.

Exiting the bus, Marinette made her way to her parents’ bakery, as the Sun began to set in the horizon. She knew, that as soon as she walked in from the street, that her parents were going to ask her why she went took the backdoor that morning, without saying anything, as well as why she was only arriving then. Still, she was hoping there were clients inside the bakery, which would prevent them from asking her those questions right then. She was just not in the mood for questions, on a day in which she should have not gotten out of bed. Luckily, on a day nothing seemed ot go her way, the bakery was filled with customers. Opening the door, she saw her mom at the counter tending to a customer, as her dad was coming out from the back with some freshly baked baguettes. Usually, the smell of freshly baked bread was enough to lift up her spirits, but not that day.

“Marinette, honey…” -Sabine said to her daughter, as she walked in.

“We were starting to get worried, honey.” -Tom said

“Sorry I’m running late… I’ll be in my room. Have a lot of homework to do.” -Marinette told her parents, in a monochordic voice.

As soon as she went upstairs, Tom and Sabine looked at each other, wondering what was wrong with Marinette. She was running late, and did not look like her old perky self.

“Boy troubles?” -Tom asked his wife.

“I don’t know, she looked a little gloomy.” -Sabine said. –“Maybe we should talk to her…”

“You want me to go up and ask her if she’s alright?” -Tom asked Sabine. –“I’m pretty much finished with the baking today.”

“No, let her be for a little while. You know Marinette tells us everything. When she feels ready, she tells us.” -Sabine told her. –“But, just in case, we’ll ask her if everything’s alright at dinner.” -she said, as she heard one of the customers calling her. –“One moment, Madame Duvalier…”

Up in her room, Marinette dropped her backpack on the floor and then sat at her desk, staring at her computer. Tikki had seen her doing this, when she was worried about something incredibly important, and she knew just what she was thinking about, right then. Sighing, she decided she had to fully convince her to do what needed to be done, even if that broke their hearts.

“Marinette…” -Tikki said, as she approached the girl.  

“Hey, I was thinking, why don’t we watch some anime? I mean, not an entire one, just one or two episodes, of course…” -Marinette smiled at her, trying to look happy and carefree, as she always did. But there was no use pretending it. That was not her real smile. That was a forced smile; the same kind of smile she put on, whenever things did not turn out the way she wanted them to. –“There’s this new anime I read about a few days ago, and I’ve been wanting to see if it’s cool or not. It’s called “A Place Further than the Universe”, and according to the reviews…”

“Marinette…” -Tikki interrupted her.

“Or, if you don’t want to, we can always watch something else! I mean, you know I have tons of movies and series, we can watch…” -Marinette went on, as that fake smile of hers became even faker than before. She was trying so hard to behave like everything else was hunky-dory, that even a blind man would see that she was pretending it.

“Marinette…”

“Or we could do nothing, and just stay here, the two of us…” -Marinette said

“Marinette, stop!” -Tikki exclaimed, snapping at her. –“I know you don’t want to do this, but you have to do it.”  

Those last words from Tikki echoed inside Marinette’s head for what looked like an eternity to her.

“I know, but… maybe I could do it a little bit later?” -Marinette asked her shyly, just the way a child asks her mother for a new toy, knowing that she will not buy it, while hoping to change her mind about it. –“Maybe after dinner, or just before I go to bed?”

“We already post-ponned this for too long. The Collector can sense the energy from my miraculous.” -Tikki stated. –“I want to do this as much as you do, but we can’t risk the Collector finding you. I won’t forgive myself, if something happens to you.” -she declared. You could hear the sadness and the worriness in her voice.   

Hearing say those words, Marinette looked at the kwami, and seconds later, thick, chubby tears were rolling down her face. She had been holding her sadness for hours, and she just could not hold it any longer. She did not want to remove her ladybug earrings and trap Tikki back in them, but she knew the little kwami was right. To protect both herself, and Tikki, she needed to do it. Signalling her to come closer, Marinette grabbed Tikki with both her hands and gently placed her against her chest, hugging her, as the tears kept rolling down her face. Shortly after, Tikki also began to sob lightly, her little heart feeling like all the sadness in the world had crawled inside of it, just like Marinette’s.

This went on for several minutes, with the two of them crying and sobbing in silence. They both felt like a part of themsleves was being ripped apart, and there was nothing they could do to stop it. When the tears finally ceased on both ends, Marinette placed Tikki at the same height as her eyes and looked at her. The kwami’s eyes were all red, just like hers, but that did not prevent them from showing just how sad she still was. But her eyes did not just show that, no. They also showed that she was hopeful, and that she wanted to transmit that feeling to Marinette, so she did not feel so bad about all that.

“You’ll see… everything will turn out okay.” -Tikki told her.

“I hope so.” -Marinette said, trying not to burst into tears again.

“Let’s promise one thing… before you take off those earrings, we’re not going to say goodbye to each other. Goodbyes are for when two people will never see each other again, and we will see each other again, I know we will. This is just temporary. Instead, we’re going to say, “See you later.”, okay?” -Tikki told Marinette.

“Okay.” -Marinette sighed, still holding her tears. –“We won’t say goodbye, then.” -she said, as leaned forward and kissed Tikki. –“I love you, very much… I just want you to know that. Alya may be my best friend, but you’re my special best friend, Tikki.”

“I love you very much as well, Marinette. From all the Ladybugs I let my power to, I feel you are the one whom I ever felt closer to.” -Tikki said, as she did her best to hold her tears.

Having made up her mind, Marinette readied herself to take off her miraculous. Going to her wardrobe, she grabbed the box where this one was initially, where she had kept it, and placed it on her desk, where Tikki was waiting for her. Looking Tikki in the eyes once more, the blue-haired girl made use of all her inner strength to not back up on her decision, knowing that what she was doing, felt both right and wrong at the same time. Taking a deep breath, her right hand reached for her left earlobe; she was about to remove the first earring, when her kwami stopped her. 

“Wait… one last thing. Don’t start reading that book you bought last week, without me, okay? I want to read it with you.” -Tikki told her. She was referring to the old copy of Stephen King’s “It” Marinette had bought the week before in a second-hand store. Tikki, unlike Marinette, was not very fond of spooky stories, but she loved to read horror books along with Marinette, because whenever the girl read a horror book, she tended to laugh at the scariest and most gruesome parts, commenting on how a certain scenario would play in real life, and thus removing all the fear from what could be a really scary experience. It was just one of the many things that made Marinette so special to her.  

“I promise you. Pennywise the Dancing Clown will just have to wait until you get back.” -Marinette tearfully smiled at Tikki, who silently waved her head in understanding. –“I think I wouldn’t be able to read that book without you, Tikki.”

“Of course, you would. You’re a brave girl.” -the kwami tried to talk in a casual voice, but once again, she was betrayed by her own voice, who could not help but to show the sadness that was in her heart. –“Now for real… See you later, Marinette.”

“See you later, Tikki.”

With a quick and almost ritualistic move of her hand, Marinette removed the first earring. By the time she began to remove the second one, Tikki had already been sucked inside the first earring, disappearing. Looking at the pair of earrings, she could not help but to see just how regular and unmagical they looked, now that she was not wearing them. Holding them in her hands, she carefully placed them inside the box, as if these were a newborn baby. And in a way, they were… well, not really a newborn baby, but they were the home of a very special being, a kwami; one that Marinette was proud to call it, her friend. Closing the box, she let out a sigh of both relief and sadness. For the first time in what looked like a very long time, Marinette felt alone in her bedroom.

Thinking about it, it just reminded her that she would be spending a lot of time alone in that bedroom, from that moment on. And that made her think about Tikki, who was now trapped inside the earrings, which were in the box she was holding in her hands. Her will was just to open the box, grab the earrings and put them on, so she could see the scarlet kwami again. That was what her heart was begging her to do, while her brain was telling her the opposite. Obeying her brain, and determined to not give in to any crazy impulse, she quickly opened one of the drawers in her desk, placed the box inside it, and closed it just as fast. She believed that if she could not see it, she would not remember it.

But the more she tried not to think about it, the more her brain reminded her that she was not waearing her miraculous, and as such, her kwami was not there for her. Such thoughts made Marinette both sad and lonely. Not being able to hold back her tears any longer, the girl began to sob uncontrollably. Every tear she shed was supposed to make her feel better, but instead, it was making her feel even worst. Not having Tikki around felt unbearable to her. And though she knew that eventually the pain would fade out, and everything would be alright, right then, that pain felt too much for her young heart to bear.

“Oh, Tikki… what are we going to do, without you and the other kwamis?” -Marinette asked herself, between sobs.  


	10. Withdrawal

A few days went by after the heroes took off their miraculouses. One would dare to say that the days after they did such a thing were hard days. But the truth, was far worse. For Marinette and her friends, those were not hard days… but rather infernal days. Infernal because they saw themselves without the kwamis, who had become like a part of them, and because they were all experiencing what one would call a withdrawal. Without the kwamis, who with their powers, had been giving them an extra boost of energy, they now felt exhausted, both physically and mentally. They went to bed exhausted, and they got up already exhausted. When asking Master Fu about it, he told them that it was absolutely natural and that their bodies needed time to get used to having that little extra energy the kwamis supplied them everyday.

“At first, you will feel like you don’t have the same energy that you previously had. You’ll get tired a lot faster, and you might become a little testy or annoyed by things that would normally not irritate you.” -Master Fu told them. –“But, that will eventually pass. You just need to be patient, and let your bodies adjust to this change.” -he said. –“And, in the meantime, I beg of you… be patient and be kind among yourselves, because there will be times, when you’ll feel like you just want to start a fight, or yell, or cry for no reason at all, and that’ll be when you will need to support, and be there for each other the most. “

With those words in their minds, they all promised the old master they would do their best to do what he told them, knowing it would not be easy. And all that could not have come at a worse time. With test week coming up, they could have used a little bit more energy, and a lot more patience, to help them studying for all the tests and reports they were going have to do. Before they had become Paris’ heroes, Miss Bustier’s class had to study like every other student. But, thanks to the kwamis, studying for them had become easier, because they were able to memorize things a lot easier. Their teachers were surprised when their grades began to rise, some more than others, because though they were able to memorize things faster, that did not mean they were able to understand them completely, especially when it came to math or chemistry. Still, generally speaking, their grades went up, and the teachers all assumed that they had begun to study harder. And now, they had to do it the old-fashioned way, and that was both exhausting and bothersome.

Knowing her students well, Miss Bustier noticed they were all acting differently for the past couple of days, as if something had happened to them, and they had not said a word about it to anyone. Feeling both curious and concerned for their well-being, the teacher decided to find out what was really going on, but without rising any suspicions.

“So, before we begin our lessons today, I was wondering if you could help me with something.” -Miss Bustier asked her class. Looking at them, they all looked like they had not slept for more than a couple of hours. If it was just one or two of them, she would hypothesize that they had been up all night playing some videogames or watching a series’ full season on Netflix. But that was not the case. They all looked tired, even those she knew for a fact, went to sleep early. –“My sister is coming to visit me in a couple of days from out of town, and I want to take her to some place fun. Do you have any suggestions?” -she asked the class. Her purpose, with that little white lie, was to see if more than one of her students talked about something or some place they might be going to those last couple of days and that would explain why they looked so tired. Another person would probably wonder if they were not into drugs, but not Caline Bustier. She knew her students well, and knew that none of them was the kind of kid who would do drugs. They were all good kids. –“Come on, I’m sure that one of you knows a fun place, where I can take her to.”

“Well, why don’t you take her to a museum? Has she been to the Louvre?” -Alya suggested, as she yawned. –“There having a new temporary exhibit on Charlemagne.” -she said, remembering to have read something about it.

“Miss Bustier said a place that is fun, not boring, Alya…” -Alix said. –“Why don’t you take her to a sporting event?!” -she suggested.

“Oh, those are choices are utterly ridiculous!” -Chloe told them both, in an annoyed, speaking in a superior voice, just like she used to, before she –“But then again, neither one of you would be able to come up with a good idea, if your lives depended on it!”

“Hey, take that back, Chloe, right now!” -Alix snapped at the blonde, not liking how the heiress was talking her. 

“Now, now, children, no fighting in the classroom.” -Miss Bustier told them, trying to appease the moods. She did not like when her students fought like that, especially in the classroom, where it was supposed to be a place of learning, and more importantly, of equality and understanding. –“Chloe, is that any way to talk to your friends?” -she asked the blonde, who seemed regretful of what she had said earlier. –“What do I always say to you and your classmates? Do not say to others what you do not want others to say to you.” -she reminded her.

“Yes, Miss Bustier. I’m sorry.” -Chloe told them both, as she cursed herself for saying those nasty things to her friends. –“ _What am I doing?! I don’t talk to people like that anymore…_ ” -she thought to herself.

Sabrina, who was right next to her, noticed something was wrong with her friend, and acted quickly to comfort, and reaasure her that everything was fine.

“It’s okay, Chloe. We all have bad days.” -Sabrina told her, smiling at her. –“Her mom told her she has to stay in New York a little longer than she wanted to, and everything they had planned to do together this weekend got spoiled.” -she quickly came up with an excuse for the way the blonde had talked to Alix, so Miss Bustier would not get suspicious.

“Yeah, it’s okay, Chloe. And truth be told, my idea was really ridiculous.” -Alix told her, ending the argument. Deep down, she knew that like all of them, Chloe was going through the effects of miraculous withdrawal and was a little on edge that morning. Thankfully, Sabrina came to the rescue with an excuse for why Chloe was acting like that. As for herself, Alix had always been a hothead, so it was only normal for her to snap back at the blonde the way she did.   

“Well, ridculous or not, I shouldn’t have said it, Alix. Once again, I’m sorry for saying what I did to both you and Alya.” -Chloe apologized to them.

“It’s alright, Chloe.” -Alya smiled at her.

“As for suggestions, why don’t you take for a day at a spa? There are tons of great spas in Paris. I can recommend you the one in my dad’s hotel.” -Chloe forced a smile. On that morning, she was not in the mood for smiling.  

“Or maybe you could take her to a concert.” -Juleka shyly suggested. –“There are tons of concerts from numerous bands and singers that no one knows about, but that put on a great show.”

It did not take long for them to start talking among themselves, and coming up with ideas and suggestions for Miss Bustier to take her sister to, and provide her a fun weekend, all the while talking about what they had been doing in their spare time. Without realizing it, they were acting like they did when they still had their miraculouses and their kwamis, even if it was just for a bit. 

After a couple of minutes, she came to the conclusion that there was no need for alarms; that they were just exhausted, each one of them, from their different activities, and nothing else. Still, worried that they were not getting enough rest, she advised them to maybe skip some of their extra-curricular activities, so they could rest a little more. The last thing she wanted was for her students to end up falling asleep in her classes, or failing on them.  

“I know that you all love to do those things you said you love to do so much, but you need to rest properly. Otherwise, you’ll end up looking like a bunch of zombies, who haven’t eaten a single brain for months.” -Miss Bustier joked about it, with her usual caring and lovable voice. Unknown to her students, she was a big fan of zombie movies and series.  

“ _If only Miss Bustier knew what’s really going on… in fact, it’s best if she doesn’t. She would flip and panic, if she did._ ” -Nino thought to himself.

“Do you promise me that you will take the time to rest properly, at least until test week is over?” -Miss Bustier kindly asked her students.

“Yes.” -they all answered in chourus, though they all believed they were not going to be able to keep their promise.

“Alright, then. First, thank you for all the suggestions you gave me… and second, today we’re going to study one of my favourite authors…” -Miss Bustier said, as she began to write on the blackboard.

* * *

Alya was hoping for a relaxing afternoon. Since she was forced to remove her miraculous, she did not have much energy to do anything she loved to do. Her plans were to just lie down on her bed, listening to some music, and if she was in the mood, maybe talk with Nino over the phone. But that was not going to happen. There was a new movie premiering, that her sisters, Ella and Etta, wanted to watch, and because both her parents were working that afternoon, and her older sister Nora was busy with her training, she would have to be theone to take them to it. She tried to convince the twins to go to the movies some other day, but they were not going to take a no for an answer.

“Come on, Alya! Let’s go!” -Ella told her big sister.

“You’ve got nothing to do today! And mom said that you could take us, because you didn’t tell her you had something scheduled!” -Etta pointed out, between giggles.

Ella and Etta’s shrilly voices sounded almost like nails sticking into Alya’s brain, draining what little patience she had that day. It took every ounce of patience, good will and kindness in her body to not yell at the twins, and to ground them, by sending them to their room. Focusing only in her own breath, she kept reminding herself that the twins were not to blame for what was happening to her and her friends, and that if she yelled at them with no good reason, they would later tell mom she had punished them unfairly, and she would end up bering reamed up, for being mean towards them. In her mind, she tried to once more, come up with a way to convince them to stay home that afternoon, but after a couple of seconds, she finally gave up. They were not going to take a no for an answer, and she did not want to snap at them. So, she ended up agreeing on taking them to the movies.  

“Alright, alright, settle down. We can go to the movies… but only if you promise to behave like good girls, and don’t do anything bad, understand?” -Alya told them, giving in.

“Can we eat popcorns? Can we?!” -Etta asked Alya.

“And sodas! Mom told us that you could buy us sodas!” -Ella asked her.

“Y-Yes, you can… but like I said… only if you behave.” -Alya told them, while taking a couple of breaths to keep herself relaxed. –“Now, go get ready.”

As Ella and Etta went to their bedroom to put on their winter jackets and their shoes, Alya went to hers, to make a phone call. The way she was that afternoon, she knew there was the slight possibility of her losing her patience with her sisters, while at the movies. And that meant, she was going to need someone who could help her out. Thinking of who she could call, the first name that came to mind was Marinette. But then she remembered Marinette had told her she was going to help out her parents at the bakery that afternoon; plus, like her, she was feeling a little on the edge. Though, to be fairly honest, everyone in Miss Bustier’s class was feeling like that. The second name that came to her mind was her boyfriend Nino, and she knew she could always count on her. From all of them, Nino was the one who seemed calmer, and almost unchanged by the loss of the miraculous. Somehow, he did not seem to be very much on edge, like the rest of them. In fact, he seemed the polar opposite of it. The only thing he seemed was exhausted, like all of them. Still, she did not care about how that was possible. She only cared in having the boy she loved next to her, to keep her from doing something to Ella and Etta, that she might regret later, if they started to act like Gremlins.   

“ _If I’m going to endure this, I’m going to need a little back-up._ ” -Alya thought to herself, as she grabbed her cell phone and called Nino. She knew he was at home, babysitting his little brother, with nothing else to do. –“ _Come on, pick up, Nino! I know you never go anywhere without your cell phone._ ” -she mused, as she waited for him to answer. Finally, after a couple of seconds, he answered. –“Nino?”

“Hey, Alya, decided you couldn’t stay away from me?” -Nino asked her playfully, remembering that she had told him, she was going to spend the afternoon resting and listening to music.

“Very funny… but no. I’m going to need your help.” -Alya told him.

“Help? What kind of help?” -Nino asked, intrigued.

“The kind of help only the best boyfriend in the world can provide.” -Alya said, trying to sweet talk him into helping her. She knew he was going to help her out, no matter what, but still felt that asking him with a sweet voice could not hurt it. –“I have to take my sisters to the movies and…”

“And you’re wondering if I could go with you, and prevent you from doing something really stupid, in case the little monsters decide to behave like little monsters, is that it?” -Nino asked her with a slightly suave voice.

“You read my mind…” -Alya said.

“Of course, I’ll go, and I’m taking Chris with me. He’ll be happy to see the twins again. You know he likes to play with them.” -Nino told her. –“What’s the movie they want to watch?”

“Frankly, I don’t know.” -Alya said. She had heard the twins saying it a couple of times, but she was so focused on not getting stressed, that the name just slipped her.

“It’s okay, we’ll see when we get there.” -Nino said. –“Same place, as always?”

“Same place, as always.” -Alya smiled. –“See you there. Love you.”

“Love you too, Alya.” -Nino smiled, as he ended the call. –“Hey, Chris, put your shoes and your jacket on. We’re going to the movies, little bro!” -he exclaimed to his little brother, who was on the other side of the house.

* * *

Music filled the air… classical music. The beautiful and majestic melody of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake filled the air of Rose’s ballet class, as she and the other aspiring ballerinas worked on their steps, trying to get the choreography right. They had been working on that routine for nearly two months now, so when the time came for the Easter recital, they would be able to dance it for their families and friends. Usually, Rose would be excited for these classes. With the exception of Miss Bustier’s classes, there were no other classes the blonde enjoyed more than those. When dancing, she felt like she could do anything. The only other time she felt like that, was when she transformed into Flamingo. The thought of it made her unintentionally think of her kwami, Flint, whom she missed so much, and simultaneously, miss a step, tumbling over two of her fellow classmates, and falling on the ground. And to make matters worse, she fell right in front of her teacher, Madame Allash, who was not a fan of any sort of mistakes by her pupils.

“Ouch!” -Rose said, as she got back up.

“Miss Lavillant, what are you thinking, you are doing?” -Madame Allash yelled at her.

“Sorry, Madame Allash.” -Rose quickly apologized.

“You better watch out, Rose. The last thing one of us needs is a broken ankle or a broken foot!” -one of her classmates told her, as she too got up.

“Let me remind you that you must have your mind on the routine, and not somewhere else, miss Lavillant!” -Madame Allash warned Rose. –“Also, there is no room for any mistakes in my class!” -she exclaimed.

“ _No, mistake is you opening your mouth to yell at people, you old hag! Haven’t you ever failed a step in your life?!_ ” -Rose thought to herself, as she chlenched her left fist. It took everything in her to not tell her those words, when her brain mind was telling her to yell them as loud as she could. –“Yes, madame.”

“Good… now, let’s take it from the top. And remember miss Lavillant, if you can’t focus on the routine, you might as well go home!”

“Yes, madame.” -Rose glared at her. If looks could kill, Madame Allash would be a smoking pile of ashes. –“ _What I wouldn’t give to see a lightning bolt smitting you right now… or if I had my flamingo cane with me, I would use it to bash you in the head with all my strenght… No, what am I saying and thinking?! I’m not like that!_ ” -she thought to herself. –“ _What’s going on with me?! I’m not like that… I don’t go around wishing those kinds of things to people, even if they deserve it…_ ”

“Miss Lavillant, do I have your attention, or not?!”     

“Y-Yes, madame.” -Rose answered her, as she got into position, while also checking the time on the clock on the wall. There was still another half hour until the end of class, and the blonde asked herself if she would have the strength to endure Madame Allash’s yelling. –“ _Still half hour to go… only half hour to go, Rose. You can do this… then, Juleka will be outside, and we can go to that café where they serve those delicious orange crepes you like so much…_ ” -she thought to herself. Not having her kwami around was bad, but knowing that her girlfriend was going through the same, and that she would be there for her, was something that gave her strength to go on.

“Miss Lavillant! If I have to yell at you one more time…” -Madame Allash yelled at Rose, who once again, was brought back down to earth.

“Y-Yes, Miss Allash… stupid witch…” -Rose whispered the last part between teeth, as she mentally asked herself how in the world, she was saying those things. She never thought that taking her miraculous and losing her kwami would do that to her, and just wished she could put it back on and have Flint crack one of his stupid jokes to make her laugh.    

* * *

At the Kurtzberg residence, Nathaniel was having a major art block. Every little drawing, he sketched turned out awful, or not the way he wanted them to. And the worst part was that art block began the moment he took off his miraculous. Unlike most of his friends, he did not feel anxious or angry… he just felt exhausted and uninspired. Ripping the page where he had been drawing, he quickly crumpled into a ball, and tossed it into the near trach can next to his desk, which by now was starting to get full. Taking a break, he remembered of Miss Bustier’s words and what she had made them promise her.

“Relax and rest… I wish it was that easy, Miss Bustier.” -Nathaniel sighed, as he stretched his arms. His whole body felt like he had been fighting against a fiend for hours in a row. Of course, he knew this was not possible. Still, it’s how he felt, and there was nothing he could do about it, except endure it.

Usually, drawing was Nathaniel’s ideal remedy for all is ailments. But with a major art block, there was no way he was going to use drawing as therapy that day. Tossing his pencil over his desk, he decided that he needed an aspirin to help him with the pain. He was not a very big fan of aspirins. Ever since one time, when he was 10, and his mother gave him one for a headache he was having, and after he took, he began to feel seasick. She believed that Nathaniel was allergic to aspirin, but it turned out that this was not the case, and the reason for his seasickness was an old piece of candy he ate earlier and that caused him to throw up. Though he had no trouble taking aspirins, whenever he had to take one, this memory came back to him; one he would rather forget about. He had just gotten up from his chair, making his way to the bathroom, where the medicine cabinet was, when his left foot got stuck on the carpet, making him fall. Nathaniel still tried to hold on to one of his bed’s footboard leg, but ended up with his face on the floor.

“Ouch…” -Nathaniel said, as he tried to get back up. As he pulled himself up, he noticed something peeking from under his bed. Reaching for it, he grabbed it. It was covered in a layer of dust, and it took him a couple of seconds to realize what it was. It was one of his sketchbooks. He used so many, that it was his custom just shove them beneath his bed once he had run out of blank pages, so it was not a big surprise for him to see it there. –“What do we have here?” -he asked, as he blew the dust away and opened the sketchbook, wondering what he had sketched in that particular sketchbook. –“Oh… God, if this is a joke, I don’t like your sense of humour, not one bit…”

The sketchbook he was holding in his hands was the one he was using to sketch drawings, when he first met Mulan, his kwami. Flipping the pages, the tears almost rolled down his face, when he saw the first sketches, he had made of his kwami. When Mulan told him that he, just like the rest of the kwamis, could not have their imager captured on camera, film or any sort of electronic device, Nathaniel decided that if he could not have a photo of him, then he would make a drawing of his, that would be as close to a photograph as possible. He sketched the red-panda kwami so many times, that he lost count of how many times he did it. Finally, he managed to sketch Mulan just the way he was, but that project of his, of drawing him as a photograph, that one just slipped his mind, as he took his job as one of the members of the Miraculous Team seriously. Looking at the the sketches, a single tear rolled down his face, as he remembered the way Mulan was always telling him to believe in his talent, and to never give up.   

“I miss you too much, buddy…” -Nathaniel sighed, as he kept staring at the sketches of Mulan, hoping that somehow, someway, these would begin to move and talk just like the real one.

* * *

Outside, the wind had begun to blow, and the sky was giving signs that it was about to start raining. And it did not take long until the first drops of rain began to fall. But that did not matter… at least, not to a certain blonde heiress. Chloe was feeling utterly miserable on that afternoon. Her whole body felt like it had been used as a punching bag by a kickboxing class, and she felt exhausted. Her only wish was to go to sleep and forget everything that was wrong with her and the world as well. But no matter how much tired she was, she could not sleep. Her brain was on overdrive. She could not stop thinking of what had happened in class that morning, when she insulted Alya and Alix. Looking herself in one of the many mirrors she had in her room, she kept reliving the whole thing in her mind.  

“Why did I say that to them? I thought I’d stopped being mean to people… especially to my friends.” -Chloe said. –“But, have I really changed as much as I think I have, or could it be that I only changed in my mind?” -she asked herself,

Usually, a delicious ice cream or a slice of tart de fruits would be her choice to forget about all problems. But not on that afternoon. She was feeling miserable. She could not even remember the last time she felt like that. And then, it hit her… the last time she felt like that was when her mom had broken her promise of spending a whole week with her. This made her shed a tear, because it reminded her that her mom was never around when she needed the most… and by addition, it also reminded her that Pollen was not around anymore. The bee kwami, like all the other kwamis, was stuck inside the bee miraculous, resting safely inside Chloe’s handbag. She had decided to keep it close to her, in case of an emergency, which she both wished it would happen, and not happen at the same time. 

“I may be the richest girl in Paris… but I’m probably also the unluckiest one now. Why is it that when I have something good happening to me, it ends up being short-lived?” -Chloe kept sobbing, as she remembered all the times Pollen was there for her, to encourage her, along with Sabrina, when she was determined to become a better person. –“Oh, Pollen, I never thought I would say this about a bee, even though you’re not exactly a bee, but you do look a bit like one… but I miss you so much.” -she went on crying, as she looked at her handbag and remembered that the bee miraculous was inside it. The urge to just go grab it and put it on was quite big, but deep inside her heart, she knew that putting it on, just to see Pollen again, was wrong, and so, she didn’t do it. –“I just want to see you agin, but I can’t.”

She kept crying for what felt like an hour. When she ended, her eyes were all red and puffy, ans she could not get the last words Pollen told her, before she was sucked into bee miraculous.

“ _I’m always with you, even if I’m not around you, Chloe. And if you’re ever feeling low or sad, be sure to surround yourself with your friends. Just like I made you realize that there was more to you, than it meets the eye, they too will make sure that you don’t forget it._ ”

Those had been the last words Pollen had told her, before she removed her miraculous, and they kept echoing inside Chloe’s head. Somehow, someway, Pollen knew that Chloe, perhaps more than any of the others, would be affected by not having her around to encourage, advise and keep her on the path she had decided to follow, to become the person she really wanted to be. So, she left her with those words, which were both a warning and an advice, she should follow, no matter what. Her first instinct was to call someone to come over. She did not want to go out with that rain, but she did not want to be alone right then. She needed someone to talk to, and that someone was her best friend, Sabrina.

“Alright, Pollen, let’s do what you told me. Instead of sulking around, I’m going to call someone to come over, so I don’t feel as miserable as I’m feeling right now.” -Chloe said, as she wiped her eyes, while looking for her cell phone. Once she found it, she quickly dialled Sabrina’s number, and waited for her to answer. –“Come on, Sabrina, pick up!”

It felt like an eternity to Chloe, before Sabrina answered the call. The redhead arrived home so tired, that after eating a little snack, she dragged herself to bed for a quick nap. When her cell phone rang, it took her a couple of seconds for her brain to understand that the ringing was not part of some dream she was having. Instintively, she reached for it, as well as her glasses. As she put them on, she saw Chloe’s name on the visor and wondered why she would be calling her.  

“H-Hello?”

“Sabrina? Took you long enough to pick up.” -Chloe chided her. Whether she was in a good or bad mood, she did not like to be kept waiting.

“S-Sorry, Chloe, I was sleeping.” -Sabrina yawned. –“What’s going on? Have you been crying?”

“C-Crying?! Who gave you that utterly idiot idea?!” -Chloe asked her, a bit nervous. She did not want her to know she had been crying her eyes out.

“Chloe, I can hear it in your voice… your voice sounds very hoarse, and that only happens when you scream your lungs out, or when you cry.” -Sabrina told the blonde, knowing her all too well. –“So, tell me, were you screaming or crying?”

“C-Crying…” -Chloe sniffed, as she tried to hold her tears. –“… I miss Pollen, Sabrina… and I’m starting to wonder if I actually changed at all, or if I’m still the same horrible girl I used to be to you and everyone else.” -she declared, almost on the brink of tears. –“What if the bee miraculous only masked the way I really am, and in reality, when I removed it, I went back to the way I really am?! Because if so, I’m not worthy of that miraculous, or your friendship, or anyone else’s for that matter…”

“Chloe, you have changed for the best. I should know, because I’m your best friend, and because you began to treat everyone, ncluding me, the way you always want to be treated. Furthermore, the miraculouses don’t change a person’s personality. Remember what Master Fu said? They only amplify the best qualities in their holders, while also reducing the worst parts of their personalities. If that was false, then you would’ve kept acting the way you did. Remember when you told me you wanted to become a better person, because you felt like nobody really liked you and that you were tired of being seen as a heartless person, who doesn’t care about anyone, except for herself? Well, I do, and I know that anyone who says those things, has a heart and cares about others and about what they say about her.” -Sabrina told her. She knew Chloe was struggling with self-doubt, and without her kwami to help her see that, it was up to Sabrina to help her see that all of those doubts she was having were not real. –“Look, I know that not having Pollen around to encourage you is making you doubt yourself… I know because without Mika around, I’m also experiencing that. But you have to remember that you’re stronger than that and that you have changed, and the only reason why you acted the way you acted this morning is because you’re temporarily not wearing your miraculous.” -she went on, trying to convince her. –“Tell me, do you want me to come over?”

“N-No, that’s okay… I’m feeling a little better now.” -Chloe told her. The truth was that she was feeling a little better. Sabrina’s words had helped her see that all that self-doubt was just a product of her imagination. Still, if Sabrina insisted on coming over, she was not going to refuse.

“Are you sure? It’s raining outside, but I can go. I don’t mind at all.” -Sabrina told her. She was worried about Chloe, and if she herself was feeling sad that Mika was not around her, then she could only imagine how her friend would be feeling.    

“Well, if you insist, I wouldn’t mind having you here to talk to a little more.” -Chloe smiled, as a tear rolled down her face; only this tear was a tear of happiness, and not sadness. –“I’ll send Jean Pierre to pick you up, so you don’t get wet and catch a cold.” -she told her.

“Alright. See you in a bit, Chloe… oh, and go wash your face. I don’t want to arrive and see you with red and puffy eyes.” -Sabrina told her, with a warm and kind voice.


	11. Kim Screws Up

With the Chinese New Year just around the corner, Marinette's parents had their hands full, thanks to Tom's world-famous Nian Gaos, or better known as the Chinese New Year's Cakes. The recipe for them belonged to Sabine's part of the family, and when she and her husband opened their bakery, she insited on him making them, by using the recipe. Tom, being the amazing baker and pastry chef that he was, came up with his version of the cakes, to be sold, along with the traditional cakes. Over the years, those delicious cakes were sold during the two weeks prior to the Chinese New Year, and each year it went by, the orders kept growing. On that afternoon, Sabine had asked her daughter to help around the bakery for a couple of hours, so she could help Tom with the baking. Ever since she had taken her miraculous, Marinette had begun to move slower, while being constantly exhausted, and with very little patience. Still, she did her best not to show it, especially around her parents, because it would be hard for her to explain why she was acting like that.

Before going down to the bakery to help her parents, Marinette took a couple of minutes to make sure nothing would upset her, by doing a little bit of yoga. She had read that yoga helped people to control their emotions, while also relieving them of stress and muscle tension, and given things, she felt it would not hurt to try it. She did not say it to anyone, but she was tired of feeling exhausted all the time. But, more importantly, she was tired of having her emotions running high. She missed feeling calm and cheerful, and more importantly, she missed her old cheerful, kind and upbeat self. As she laid on the ground, with her legs crossed, breathing in and out, she tried to think of happy thoughts that would help her endure the next few hours. Most customers were nice and civilized, and she was delighted to trade a few words with them, while tending to their orders. But whether she liked it or not, there were always a few other customers who were the absolute opposite of that. She did not want her parent's business to suffer because she insulted one of the customers, even if said customer was rude to her in the first place.

" _Be positive, Marinette… you can do this._ " -Marinette thought to herself, while taking a deep breath. –" _If one of the clients is rude to you, you just need to ignore him or her…_ "

All of that sounded and looked ridiculous, and would sound and look as that to anyone who saw her doing it. But the truth was that if she did not do it, in order to focus on what she was going to do for the next couple of hours, she would probably snap at someone, just for giving her the stinkeye. She wished that that bad mood of hes would just go away, and that she could wear her miraculous once again, and have Tikki next to her.

" _Patience, Marinette… one must have patience._ " -Marinette said to herself, as she let a single tear rolled down her cheek. She missed Tikki a lot… so much, that it was hard for her to put it to words. Still, she kept on believing that sooner rather than later, the little scarlet kwami would come back to her.

After those yoga exercises, Marinette put on her best smile, and quickly went down to the bakery. As she went down the stairs, she began to hear the commotion at the counter. She loved whenever they had clients, because that meant more money for her parents, which itself meant free-stressed and happier parents, which itself also meant a small raise in her allowance, so she could buy more fabric for her fashion projects. A few days before, Marinette's mood would have not let her think that way, but, little by little, she knew she would be feeling like her old self in no time. And with some luck, she would have Tikki back by her side as well. Opening the door, she saw that the commotion was far worse than she could have imagined, as her mother struggled to keep tabs on every order.

"Oh, Marinette, just in time." -Sabine said, as Marinette put on her apron.

"What do you need me to do?" -Marinette asked her mom.

"I'll take care of the bread orders, while you take care of the cake orders. Do you think you can handle it, sweetie?" -Sabine asked her daughter.

"Sure, mom." -Marinette tried to smile. –"I can handle it."

"Oh, and one more thing, sweetie… you remember Madame Bisset, don't you?" -Sabine asked her.

"The old lady from down the road who's always wearing cat themed clothes?" -Marinette answered her. If the person she was thinking of, was the one her mother was talking about, she knew who she was. Whenever she came to the bakery, she would be carrying one of her cats inside her handbag.

"That's the one… she ordered a birthday cake that's on the display window, and she's coming to get it in about half an hour." -Sabine warned her. –"It's the one with sugar marigolds, that says "Joyeux Anniversaire Christine", okay, honey?" -she said. –"Oh, and one last thing… keep an eye for the amount of Nian Gaos on the shelf. If we start running low on them, tell me, so I can tell your dad to bake another batch of them."

"Got it, mom." -Marinette said, as she quickly turned around to tend her first order. –"Good afternoon, how can I help you?" -she asked her first customer. –"12 chocolate maccarons and 4 vanilla cream puffs. Coming right up!"

You would expect that as time went by that the number of customers would decrease, but not that day. For every customer Marinette served, another two appeared and took its place, with even larger orders. Every so often, her dad would show up with a new batch or freshly baked bread, or cakes, perfuming the air with its sweet, delicious aroma. When Madame Bisset showed up, Marinette quickly rushed to get the birthday cake she had ordered. Seeing it, she took a moment to admire just how pretty it was. Once more, her dad had managed to create something absolutely beautiful and delicious. If that cake was not so big, and it was not an order, she would probably snatch it for herself and eat it all, leaving not a single crumb behind. Taking it back to the counter, she quickly placed it inside a box, and wrapped a beautiful pink ribbon around it, just the way only she could do it.

"Okay, here it is. One birthday cake, Madame Bisset." -Marinette smiled.

"Thank you, my dear. My granddaughter is going to love it." -the old woman said, with a smile on her face. Like always, she had brought one of her cats inside her handbag to keep her company, while shopping. This time, the one accompanying her was a black one with green eyes. Looking at it, Marinette could not help but to think of just how close he was to Chat Noir, making her smile. –"Make sure to tell your father that once more he outdid himself, okay?"

"Don't worry, I'll tell him." -Marinette smiled, as the old woman grabbed the cake and left. –" _She's right. Dad outdid himself once more… he's got to be the best baker in town._ " -she mused to herself, only to be brought back to reality, by the following customer, who called her. –"One moment, please…"

The movement inside the bakery was incredible, with people coming and out. Sabine and Marinette had to move as quickly as their feet allowed them to keep up with the customers, especially Marinette, when Sabeine left her a lone to help out Tom, when she felt he needed. This went on for another hour or so, when the number of customers finally began to drop. Unfortunately, it was not just the number of customers that dropped. Marinette's levels of energy also plummeted. Her upbright and sunny disposition had disappeared, she was moving a lot slower and it she was almost dragging her feet when walking. This, of course, did not escape the watchful eye of her mother. Even though Marinette tried to keep up the appearance that she was alright, her mother saw that she was not.

"Marinette, sweetie, is everything alright?" -Sabine asked her daughter.

"I'm o-okay, mom." -Marinette lied. The truth was she was making use of most of her strength just to keep standing. All she wanted right then was a chair, so she could take a seat, even if it was just for a couple of seconds.

"You don't look like you're okay." -Sabine said. –"Are you hatching a cold, or something?" -she asked her, worried about her well-being.

"I-I don't think so." -Marinette said.

"Well, you better go up, and rest for a bit. I'll go check on you, when things calm down a little more."

"B-But mom, I'm fine. I can stay and help you."

"You already helped enough today, Marinette." -Sabine told her with her usual calm and caring voice. –"I can handle the rest of the customers. You go upstairs, eat something and then rest, okay sweetie?"

"Okay, mom." -Marinette smiled.

As she took off her apron, and placed it under the counter, where she always did, Marinette could not help but to feel like she was letting down her parents. She knew, of course, that that was not the case, and that her mother had appreciated her help during those couple of hours she was there with her. But still, deep down, she felt like she was letting them down. Once more, she thought that if she was wearing her miraculous, she would have energy to work for 12 straight hours iin the bakery, without breaking a sweat. Cursing both the Collector and her luck, she dragged herself upstairs for some rest and relaxation. As she climbed the stairs, she wondered what she was going to do to relax. The first thing that came to her mind was to just take a shower, or maybe a bubble bath, while listening to some music. But then remembered that she wouldn't be able to do it, because she was was having a major case of the munchies, and a snack was in order. She could just ignore her food cravings and jump on the bathtub first. But her rumbling tummy dictated that food was more important than a shower or a bubble bath, right then. Arriving at the apartment, Marinette made her way to the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator, she looked inside to see what was in it. Grabbing everything she considered yummy, she quickly created a mean sandwich, with ham, bacon, lettuce, tomato, cheese, and lots of mayonnaise. After taking a moment to appreciate her culinary prowess, she grabbed the sandwich and took a huge bite out of it, savouring the various ingredients.

"Mmmm… I needed this, so much…" -Marinette sighed.

Taking the sandwich with her, she came up with the strength to go up to her room. Once there, she turned on her laptop, accessed her favourite playlist and then sat on her chaise-longue, hearing it, while eating her sandwich. Sighing, she tried not to think about all the problems she was having in her life, while listening to some of her favourite songs by Jagged Stone. Still, the more she tried not to think about it, the more she did. Looking at the drawer of her desk, where she had placed her miraculous, Marinette felt the urge to just go to it, open it and put the ladybug earrings, just so she could talk to Tikki and tell her how hard things were. Still, deep down, she knew that that was something she could not do. She had made a promise, and she was going to keep it, even if that meant enduring that pain in her chest, which she was beginning to feel accostumed to.

* * *

As the sun went down in the horizon, marking the end of another day, at the Agreste Manor, dinner was served. The chef, knowing from Nathalie who told him, that Adrien was feeling a little under the weather, decided to cook one of his favourite dishes, lasagne, to cheer him up. In fact, that dinner had every ingredient needed to be a dinner that would cheer him up, including the presence of his father, who for the first time in two weeks, was able to sat down at the table and have a meal with his son.

Gabriel Agreste's outer exterior would give a person to think that he did not care about anything oe anyone else, but himself. But the truth was that he cared a lot about many things in life… but none more than his son Adrien. As he finished the asparagus soup the chef had made just for him, Gabriel looked at his son, and saw that something was not right. He did not know what, but there was something clearly wrong with him. Determined to find out what, he decided to ask him.

"Adrien, is there something wrong?"

"N-No, dad… I'm just, you know, tired…" -Adrien said, a little crestfallen. He had hardly touched the lasagne in the plate.

"Tired, you say?" Gabriel asked him. –"Have you been resting enough? I know that the last photoshoots were a bit wearing, but you didn't say anything about it…"

"It's okay, dad. The photoshoots aren't the problem…" -Adrien answered him. The truth was that the last photoshoots he had early that week had exhausted him more than usual, but that was not the real reason why he was so tired. –"… it's just… well, test week is coming up, and I've been studying until late. I know I shouldn't do it, but…"

"I understand." -Gabriel told him. –"I know that you have another one scheduled for next week, but maybe it's best if I ask Nathalie to reschedule it for a later date. I don't want you to fall back on your studies." -he said. –"Oh, and before I forget. You'll have the house for yourself for the next couple of days. I'll be travelling tomorrow to London, for the opening of the new Agreste store in Saville Row, as well as taking care of a few business, regarding the launch of the next Autmun/Winter collection."

Adrien quickly remembered about his dad talking about it a few weeks prior. Saville Row was known for various reasons, but the most important of them all was that it was the street in London where the best bespoke tailoring stores were located. Ever since he began to study fashion, that Gabriel Agreste wanted to open a store of the kind in that street in London. And in a matter of hours, that dream was going to become a reality. Unlike most Agreste boutique stores, this one was different. It would be the first Agreste bespoke tailoring store in the world, right next to some of the best tailor houses in London like Huntsman & Sons, Gieves & Hawkes, Dege & Skinner, and of course, the most important of them all… a tailor house which had its name lent to a spy comic book and film franchise, Kingsman. Being the first of its kind, Gabriel worked on the concept for nearly a year, before putting it into practice.

"Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?" -Adrien asked him, while hoping his father would say no. It was not like he did not like to attend that kind of event, but he was not exactly in the mood for it.

"No, it's best if you stay and focus on your studies." -Gabriel told him.

"Alright, if you think it's best, dad." -Adrien said, as he took a bite out of the lasagne. As always, it was delicious. He was just not very hungry that night.

After dinner. Gabriel went to his study to work on a design he was working on for a couple of days now. As for Adrien, he went to his bedroom to rest a little bit, before hitting the books. Entering it, Adrien noticed, just like it happened during last couple of days, how quiet his bedroom was. When he was around, Plagg would make a big commotion when Adrien returned, not bringing him a single piece of delicious Camembert cheese, while also challenging him for a one-on-one videogames match. Ever since he had put on the black cat miraculous and met Plagg, Adrien's life had become easier, or at the very least, a lot more bearable. Bedore that, he would just go to school, practice fencing, pose in every photoshoot his father needed him to, and by his father's orders, he was not allowed to go anywhere after coming from school. But with Plagg around, he had someone to talk to and play with, when alone in that big house. And of course, the black cat kwami had also given him the strength and the courage to stand up to his father's decisions, and ask for a bit more freedom. In the end, he still had to tell his father, or at the very least, Nathalie, or Nina where he went, when he went out. But, at least, he did not have his bodyguard and chauffeur, Gorilla, acting like his own shadow.

Sitting on one of the armchairs he had in his bedroom, he then looked at the graphic novel that was on top of the coffee table. It was one of the hundreds of graphic novels and comic books he owned; but more importantly, it was the last thing Plagg read before he was sucked back into black cat ring, when Adrien took it off. Grabbing it, he noticed that he had never read that one before, which was not a surprise for him. His father had the habit of buying him everything he felt would make Adrien happy, and then Nathalie would just place it in his room, notifying him later.

"Space Guardians… I wonder how long this was in the bookshelf?" -Adrien asked himself, as he opened it and saw what it was about. It did not take long for him to see why Plagg was interested in it, in the first place. –"Oh… I see it. No wonder this one caught your eye, Plagg… this team has a cat who's actually a talking space alien, who enjoys to deliver catpuns." -he laughed.

He kept reading it, when a thunder startled him. Looking outside, he saw that it had begun to rain. It did not take long for a little drizzle to turn into a storm, with the wind howling like crazy. All of that just made him thank the fact that he was safe inside, where it was warm. Still, deep inside, Adrien just wanted to go outside, evenif that meant catching a cold. He craved to to go outside as Chat Noir, and feel the rain and the wind against his face. But he knew he could not put on his miraculous and release his kwami. Not until the Collector showed up, or Master Fu contacted them with news on how to trap the dastardly fiend. The last time they knew of the Collector, he was in Mumbai, making his way towards Paris. For all they knew, he could still be on his way… or, he might already have arrived, and was just waiting for one of them to power-up, so he could show up and try to rob the miraculous for himself.

"Oh, Plagg… what I wouldn't give to have you with me here, right now."

* * *

Lightning illuminated the cloudy night sky, as the rain kept coming down hard. The streets of Paris were no place for men nor beast to be; not with that rain. But that did not stop some people from wishing they could go outside. And one of these people was none other than Le Chien Kim, or just Kim, for his friends. The holder of the antelope miracukous was stuck at home with nothing to do, except studying. Usually on a Thursday night, he would be helping out at his parent's restaurant, but not that night. That night, the restaurant was being managed only by the main staff, who told Kim he did not need to come help them. His parents went to visit Kim's grandfather on his dad's side, who was at home in Nantes, recovering from a nasty case of pneumonia, and would not be back, until the following day.

He had tried to focus on studying for the upcoming tests, but his brain was just not in the mood for it. Thinkng of other things to do, he remembered that he had already read that month's stash of comic books he had bought the other day, that he did not have any new videogame to play, and last, but not least, there was nothing good on television that night. Even Netflix could not help him, because he had already watched every series and movie in it, that he was interested in.

"I can't take this any longer… I need to get out here!" -Kim sighed in exasperation, as he threw the book to the side.

Looking at the box where the antelope miraculous was, he was fighting the urge of putting it back on, so he could release his kwami and transform into Antelope, and go outside for a little bit. The rational part of him was telling him he should leave it alone, and not think about it, while the irational and crazy part of him was telling that he should put it on, just for an hour or two, and then put it back where it was.

" _I shouldn't… but then again, who would know it? Plus, I'm the fastest thing alive… even if he does show up, and has the power of super speed, I can outwit him. After all, I know every single street in this town, like palm of my hand, and he doesn't._ " -Kim mused about it, and the more he did it, the more he felt like doing it, regardless of the consequences. –"I mean, who's going to know? It will only be for maybe an hour, or so. Then, I come back, take it off, and it will be like it didn't happen." -he said.

With his mind made-up, he went to the shelf where the box was, he quickly opened it and stood there for a moment, just admiring it. Ever since he had gotten that leather bracelet, that he considered it his most prized possession. When he began wearing it, his parents asked him why he had begun to wear it, because he had never been the kind of person who wore accessories on his wrists, not even wrist watches or exercise bands. He simply told them that he found it cool, which ended that conversation. Taking it out of the box, he quickly put it on his wrist, and it did not take long for the antelope kwami, Imp, to show up in a quick flash of light. Looking around, the first thing Imp asked was:

"Kim, what's going on? Has Master Fu contacted you guys about a way to catch the Collector?"

"Not yet, Imp. But that doesn't' matter right now… what matters is that we're going on a little patrol, buddy." -Kim smirked at the antelope kwami, who was looking at him.

"Are you nuts?!" -Imp practically screamed at him. –"What am I saying? Of course, you are nuts! What did Master Fu told you and the others?!" -he asked him. –"He said that you had to take off my miraculous, because its energy could attract the Collector!"

"And as far as we know it, that guy could still be on his way here, Imp!" -Kim told him.

"Maybe… but he can already be here, just waiting for one of you to screw up!" -Imp kept screaming at Kim.

"Like you said, maybe… Come on, don't tell me you're not happy to be outside again?"

There was no point in denying it. Imp knew Kim knew him too well, for him to say it otherwise. He was happy to be outside his miraculous again, even if that feeling went against everything, he had just told him.

"Don't deny it. I can tell it by your face, little buddy." -Kim smirked at the little kwami. –"Now, come on, let's go for a little ride. I promise you that it's only for a couple of hours, and then I'll take this thing off." -he told him.

"Fine… but listen to me. If the Collector shows up, and let's pray he doesn't show up, you run as fast as you can, find a place to revert back to your civilian form and take off my miraculous, so he can't find you, you hear me?" -Imp asked him with a serious voice.

"Okay."

"Promise me, Kim!" -Imp looked him in the eyes. –"Promise me, if that guy shows up that you won't try anything crazy, like you always do when we're up against an akumatized villain." -he said.

"I promise you, okay. Now, come on, let's go! I want to feel the wind and the rain against my face." -Kim told his kwami. –"Imp, transfome moi!" -he shouted as he transformed from ordinary teenager into a superhero.

The first thing that went through Kim's mind, as he saw himself as Antelope once more, was that it felt good to be wearing that uniform once more. And better yet, it felt good to have an almost endless supply of energy. Gone was the exhaustion, the bad mood and every last side effect from taking off his miraculous. Right then, he felt like he could run circles around every last person in Paris. Not wasting another moment, he quickly made his way outside, through his balcony. Once outside, he felt free as a bird. Jumping out the balcony, once he hit the ground he began dashing through the streets. He did not have a destination point, but he did not need one. The whole town was his playground, and he was going to make the most of it.

"So many streets to explore, so little time… now I wish I had Rose's ability to duplicate myself." -Antelope joked, as he took a hard turn to the right, missing an incoming bus by just a couple of feet, which earned him a honk from the bus driver, who was clearly upset and angry with him. –"Sorry!" -he apologized, though he hardly believed the man heard him. –"Got be more careful, or else, tomorrow I'll have a couple of bruises I won't be able to explain."

Antelope loved to patrol at night, especially when it was raining cats and dogs, because it made the asphalt slipperier and the streets emptier, leaving him lots of place to speed as fast as his feet allowed him. Taking a left turn on the Jardin des Grands Explorateurs, he kept going straight, speeding up like a lightning bolt, passing the Jardin du Luxembourg. Soon enough, after crossing the Seine, he was standing on top of Louvre's pyramid, just to slide it down, making his way to the Jardin Nelson-Mandela. Stopping for a moment under a tree, he tried to catch his breath. He felt he was a little out of practice, after a couple of days without training, but most importantly, without using his powers.

"Whew… I'm a little out of practice. 20 minutes running at full speed, and I'm already sweating." -Antelope said, as took deep breaths. –"After this Collector guy shows up, and we take him down, I'm going to have to come up with a training routine to get back in shape." -he said.

After a quick rest, he felt ready for another race. Looking around, he tried to choose which direction he should go from there. Not being able to decide, he felt that if he got an aerial view of his surroundings, it would help him to decide. Taking balance, he performed one of his famous jumps, landing on top of the roof of the nearby Saint Eustache Church. Once up there, he looked around, looking for a place to head to, so he could try a couple of tricks, before starting a new race. A lightning bolt illuminated the night sky, startling him for a second. Not wishing to end up a fried antelope, the hero knew he had to get out of there, before he was struck by a lightning. With his eyes, he found the perfect place to head to.

"Guess it's time for me to take a little interest in modern art." -Antelope smiled, as he slid down the church's rooftop at high speed.

The building that had caught Antelope's eye was none other than the Centre George Pompidou. Named after the former French Presdent, who commissioned it, the building was designe in a style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano, along with Gianfranco Franchini, and it housed the Public Information Library, as well as the National Museum of Modrn Art, the largest of its kind in Europe. But more importantly, due to his unique design, it was the perfect place to try crazy acrobatic stunts for someone who had the powers Antelope had.

It was not the first time he used the building to practice these stunts. In fact, whenever he went on patrol, if he happened to be in the area, he would take a couple of minutes to try some new stunt in it. This produced two things. The first was a sort of routine for him, and the second was that it was a place where people, mostly tourists, could get a better look at him from time to time. But on that rainy night, there was almost no one on the streets, so the odds of having someone snapping a photo of him were pretty dim. Still, he could not care less about it. On that night, he was just in for the fun of it. There was nothing better than to feel like he could do anything. Running on top of the buildings' rooftops, he saw the building approaching. In his mind, he had already decided which tricks and stunts he was going to perform, once he got there. Reaching the edge of the building rooftop he was running on, he jumped into the square below. Usually, during spring and summer, this one would be filled with numerous street performers and miniature carnivals, among other things. But right then, it was absolutely empty… perect for what Antelope had in mind. His idea was to use the slippery asphalt to gain balance and then jump as high as he could, and land on top of the building, just to slid down the escalators at high speed. Analysing his surroundings and taking in account the wind, which was blowing from the east, he figured that he would have to running from the north end of the square as fast as he could, right from the start, taking advantage of the distance, and jump before he reached the end of it, and once he was up in the air, to take advantage of the wind to lead him in the right direction.

"Alright, here we go." -Antelope said, as he wipped the water from his face and took one final breath.

Speeding up, he was sure that he was going to pull that stunt, flawlessly. But, as he ran, he saw the floor in front of him to look slightly orange, getting more and more orange. On top of it, his back began to feel really warm. Feeling threatned, he quickly dodged to the left, as a fire ball ran past him, hitting the floor just a few feet from him. When it hit the ground, it left a considerable-size hole on the pavement. Antelope's first thought was that Hawk Moth had decided to akumatize someone that night, and he happened to be in the vicinity.

"Don't tell me that psycho akumatized a person right now… it would be a first for him to akumatize someone in the dead of the night." -Antelope thought to himself. –"I bet it's a guy who likes to play with fire."

But no such luck. It was not an akumatized fiend. Antelope quickly recognized the one that had thrown the fireball at him, from the Book of Prophecies. Floating in the air, brandishing his double-sword, the armoured figure of thr Collector looked at Antelope with his red glowing eyes, as if he was some kind of wild animal, waiting to be hunted and stuffed. As he landed, the sound of metal clinking against the ground echoed in Antelope's ears. Staring him in the eyes, Antelope knew that he was in a pickle.

"Great… there goes the idea of this guy still making his way to us…" -Antelope sighed, without taking his eyes off the Collector.

The Collector stood there, just staring at the holder of the antelope miraculous, waiting for him to take the first step. The standoff went on for what looked like hours, without either one of them moving an inch. Antelope himself did not know if he should just run, like he had promised his kwami to do, if the Collector showed up, or if she should just attack him and hope for the best. Finally, the standoff ended, when the Collector pointed his sword at Antelope and said:

"Miraculous… give it to me…"

Antelope had imagined that the Collector would have a booming, almost thunderous voice. But his voice was anything but that. Instead, it was a calm, and almost anesthetic voice; nothing like the kind of voice someone who did the things he did would have. Even so, that did not change what Antelope thought about him. He knew why he was there, and he knew just what to answer him, when he said those words.

"Not a chance, Darth Vader!" -Antelope snapped back at him. Right then, after hearing the Collector for the first time, he felt like he was talking with the infamous Sith Lord, because of the way his voice sounded like. –"I'm not going to give you my miraculous, not now, not ever!"

"Then, you will die…" -the Collector said, without moving an inch.

"Yeah, right… you don't scare me, mister! You may be big and tall, but you don't scare me. I've dealt with idiots a lot bigger than you!" -Antelope taunted him. –"When I'm through with you, you're going to wish you had never gotten out of that stupid urn, where you were sealed in!" -he went on. –" _Sorry, Imp, but I'm going to have to break that promise I made you, little buddy. If this guy thinks I'm going to hand him over my miraculous without a fight, then, he's sadly mistaken._ "

Not thinking twice about it, Antelope just charged against him with his bat, targeting the Collector's head. He hoped that his quick attack was fast enough to catch the Collector off guard and land a precise blow to his head, knocking him out of commission. The Collector did not move, as he charged against him. He believed he was going to hit him, but when he swung his bat to hit him, he disappeared out of sight. Shocked that he did not land the blow on the villain, Antelope tried to process what had happened.

"W-What the…? Where did you go?!"

Suddenly, he felt someone behind him. Turning around, the Collector was staring at him. Seeing that, Antelope tried to understand what had happened, and how could have the Collector have moved that fast, without him realizing it.

"Your miraculous… give it to me…" -the Collector demanded it, once again. He was not going to take a no for an answer.

"I told you…" -Antelope said, as he tried to hit him again with his bat. –"… this miraculous, is not yours, and I'm not giving it to you!" -he shouted, as he kept trying to hit him, as the Collector seemed to roll out of the way of his bat.

This went on for a couple of seconds, after which the Collector seemingly got tired of Antelope's incessant attacks, and decided to put an end to them. With his left hand, he grabbed the bat, preventing Antelope from attacking him. The young hero tried to make him loosen his grip on the bat, but to no effect.

"Last chance… youe miraculous, now…" -the Collector warned him, this time with a more impatient voice. He was starting to grow tired of Antelope's stubbornness. –"Give it to me, and I'll spare your life…"

"Over my dead body, chromedome!" -Antelope exclaimed, as he tried to force the Collector to let go of his bat.

"Then… I will have to kill you, to get it…" -the Collector said.

The Collector had just finished speaking, when he lets go of Antelope's, only for a ball of fire to appear on his hand. Growing quickly in size, he then threw it at Antelope, who managed to dodge it. Then, another another ball of fire appeared on his hand, and another, and another, with him firing each one of them had the young hero, who did his best to avoid them.

"You can keep shooting those, because I'll keep dodging them, man!" -Antelope said, as he leapt into the air, trying to escape the balls of fire. He figured that if he was going to go one-on-one against him, he was going to make use of his speed, but most importantly his leaping ability. –"What the…"

The last fire ball that the Collector had fired against Antelope had just been fired, when the Collector disappeared, and reappeared in the same instant a few feet above Antelope. Swinging his double-sword, he used it as a fighting stick to hit the young hero. Antelope tried to swerve from it, but even with his incredible speed, he could not swerve fast enough. The next thing he knew, he was being used as a baseball ball by the Collector, who hit him with an unimaginable strength. As he was projected in the air, he wondered how could that fiend be faster than him.

" _This is impossible… I'm the fastest being around, not including Alix… how can this guy be even faster than me?_ " -Antelope thought to himself.

Antelope's body hit the Pompidou Centre at such a speed, and with an incredible force that the whole building shoke for about a second or two. Following Newton's third law, which stipulates that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, the body of the young hero went through walls of concrete, glass windows, metal pipes and other kinds of materials, until he finally stopped. Falling on the ground, he felt like he had been used as a punching bag for numerous hours. And if he felt bad, then, when a large piece of concrete fell from the ceilling, on top of him, along with with a few metal tubes, pieces of plaster and glass, he felt even worse.

"O-Okay… this is g-going to sting in the morning…" -Antelope said, trying to stay conscious, all the while trying to get back on his feet, which proved to be a little problem, given the amount of debris on top of him. He tried to move, but the weight of the debris on top of him, combined with his aching muscles, was a problem. –"C-Come on… that bozo is coming for your miraculous, and you're… you're not going to give it to him without a fight… so get up!" -he practically screamed at himself. He was not going to let him get his miraculous.


	12. The Price We Pay

What had begun with a break of the rules by Antelope, had evolved into a fight for survival. The bearer of the antelope miraculous, bored to death, decided to put it back on, so he could go out on a quick patrol. His kwami warned him of the risks, but in the end, Le Chien Kim went ahead with his insane idea. As he was about to perform another one of his crazy stunts at the Pompidou Centre, the Collector showed up, demanding him his miraculous. Of course, Antelope told him that he was not going to hand it to him, and instead of just running like his kwami had begged him to do, in case the Collector showed up, he decided to to take a stand and fight him.

To his surprise, the Collector proved to be be quite a handful. Antelope was way out of his depth on that one, and as he tried to remove the ton of debris that had fallen on top of him, when he was tossed like a ragdoll by the villain, he knew that he was going to need a miracle to get out of there alive, and with his miraculous. Struggling, he tried to set himself free. But the weight of the debris was just too much for him. Just the large piece of concrete on top of him must have weigth half a ton.

"Come on… I've got to get out of here!" -Antelope thought to himself, as he tried to use his chest to push the debris, while using the strength from both his back and his arms. After a couple of tries, the concrete did not move an inch, leaving him on the brink of despair. –"It's no use… if I hadn't been running or doing those crazy stunts earlier, I might had enough strength to toss this thing to the side… but not now. That guy is going to come here and kill you, and there's nothing you can do to stop him." -he sighed in exhasperation. He knew he was in a pickle, and could already imagine the horrible things the Collector was going to do to him, before he got his miraculous. -"What are you talking about?! You're Antelope, the fastest member of the Miraculous Team! You're not going to let this guy kill you, and you know why?! Because you're too stubborn to give up… now focus on getting this thing from your chest!"

Fueled by a mixture of anger, stubbornness and determination, Antelope tried to make the piece of concrete to move. After a couple of attempts, he managed to move it a couple of inches. It was not much, but it was enough to give him hope he was going to be able to pull himself free. He figured that if he could release his right arm from under the debris, he would be able to maybe push the concrete to the side. It was a long shot, especially because the concrete was not the only thing on top of him.

"Come on, you can do this!" -Antelope said. –"Just think on what Alix would call you, if she was here… she would call you a sissy, a wuss and maybe… just maybe, a wimp…" -he thought to himself.

Then, all of a sudden, the debris on top of him began to feel lighter and lighter, allowing him to move his limbs. This was the doing of the Collector, who was using one more of his array of powers to lift the debris. Tossing them aside, he looked at Antelope, who to his surprise, was alive… battered, but alive.

"You're alive… considering the strength with which I threw you against this building, I'm surprised." -the Collector spoke in a voice almost devoid of sentiment. –"Do you care to reconsider my offer? Give me the miraculous, and I'll let you live." -he said, as once again pointed his double-sowrd at the young hero.

This time, Antelope did not say a single word, and instead, got up and sprinted out of there. He did not want to admit it, but he knew he should have taken Imp's advice on not going against the Collector in the first place. Not looking back, he tried to find his way out of the building, knowing that he had better chances of escaping him outside. Unlike the Collector, Antelope knew Paris, and that could work in his favour. Speeding through the corridors, he did not care if he raised an alarm. He figured that his forced entry, courtesy of the Collector had already raised every alarm in the building. Passing by a couple of security guards, who were just doing their job, he was desperate to find a way out.

"Got to find a way out of here… can't let that guy catch me, but I can't let him hurt innocent civillians." -Antelope thought to himself, as he looked around for a way out. –"Could use the door… but there's no time. I'm choosing door number two!"

Speeding up, he blasted his way out through a window. The whole thing would have looked quite spectacular, if films in slow-motion. But that was the last thing he cared about. All he cared about was getting away from the Collector. He did not see him, but he could feel the villain watching him, which begged the question; was he imagining things, and actually managed to give him the slip, or was the Collector using his invisibility powers, and was following him at a safe distance?

"I don't know if he's still after me, but I'm not taking any chances… I've got to get away from him." -Antelope said, as he charged down Rue Beaubourg, on the direction of City Hall.

It did not take him long to find out if he was just imagining things or not. Suddenly, a car fell from the sky, almost crushing him. Once more, he could not see the Collector, but he knew he was not far behind, and was now using cars to try and crush him.

"This guy isn't joking… but let's see if I can gve him the slip."

Cars from all shapes and sizes kept raining on Antelope, who was doing his best to not get squashed into mashed potatoes. Luckily, there was no one on the streets at that moment. If there were civillians, who could get hurt, then things would be even worse, because he would have to make sure the Collector did not hurt them. Still, luck was on his side that moment, and he was going to make the most of it. Without the need to worry about civillians, he could focus on running from the Collector, while looking for a place to hide. All he had to do was make sure that one of the cars did not crush him, or blow him up, when impacting on theground and exploding.

The explosions on the street quickly attracted the attention of those inside the surrounding buldings, who thought that either a terrorist attack was taking place, or that World War III had begun. Looking out the window, they only saw the

" _Okay… we're reaching City Hall, which means, we're nearing the river._ " -Antelope thought to himself, as he looked at the lighted building. As he did that, he remembered that perhaps Chloe's dad might be inside, working late, as usual. –" _I just hope the mayor doesn't blame me for this… I wouldn't be surprised if the media showed up to cover this._ " -he thought. He figured it would only be a matter of time, before a news van would show up to cover it. With that rain, there was no way one of the news channels in that city would allow a news helicopter to take off. –" _It's only a matter of time before everyone in Paris knows about this… I'm so going to get scolded because of this, I just know it. But I can't think about it now. Right now, I've got to find a place to hide and change back. As long as I'm in this form, he'll be able to track me, even if I'm not in his field of vision._ "

He had just reached the end of the City Hall Square, making his way to the Pont D'Arcole, when a huge wall of fire sprouted from the ground, blocking the way, and preventing Antelope from crossing it. He figured he would just jump over it, but as he tried, the wall of flames grew in height, forcing him to abort this move. He had barely touched the ground, when the flames surrounded him, with no place to go. Feeling trapped, like a caged animal, he wondered if he ought to cross the flames and risk getting burned in the process. Still, he did not have the time to think it thoroughly, because on the following moment, the Collector crossed the wall of flames, floating a couple of feet in the air, never looking away from him.

"You can't run from me, boy… I will find you, no matter what." -the Collector told him, as he touched the ground.

"Boy?! What do you think this is? God of War?!" -Antelope snapped at him. Right then, he did not know if he should taunt him or not, but he was beginning to get nervous, and when that happened, he began to talk in pop culture references, as a way to settle down his nerves. –"I told you, I'm not giving you this miraculous, not now, not ever! It's not yours to take!" -he said.

"And I told you, you will give it to me, or you will die… and I assure you, that I will not hesitate in killing you, in order to fulfil my destiny." –the Collector warned Antelope.

"And what destiny is that?!"

"My destiny… is to assure that justice is upheld everywhere. Those who rob, plunder, rape, kill, threaten, bully and destroy, will know death by my hand, so that the innocent can claim the Earth for themselves." -the Collector declared in a solemn voice. –"But to do that, I must have all the miraculouses… for only then, will I have the power and the strength to carry on my mission, and fulfil my destiny."

"If you do that, you're no better than your victims!" -Antelope said. –"For instance, if you kill a killer, then number of killers in the world remains the same!" -he said, quoting one of his favourite comic book heroes, Batman.

"You are too young and too naïve to understand the importance of my mission… and furthermore, you don't understand that in order to ensure peace and justice reign supreme, some sacrifices are needed." -the Collector told him.

"Young and naïve? And what are you? Old and criminal?! You're just as bad as the people you want to kill!" -Antelope yelled at him.

"I grow weary of this… give me your miraculous, now!"

"Never!" -Antelope said, as he readied himself to face him, once again. He did not want to do it, but given no other option, he would just have to find a way to temporarily take him down, so he could find a way out of that mess.

"So be it…"

Brandishing his weapon on one hand, on the other, he made a ball of fire appear. This ball quickly began to grow larger and larger, until it shot upward, beginning to take another form… the form of a Chinese dragon, who stared at Antelope. The young hero thought to himself that if there was ever a time to prove to everyone that he eas the fastest member in the Miraculous Team, that was going to be it. Dashing towards the Collector, his plan was just to hit him as hard as possible, as many times as his allowed him to, while dashing the fire dragon, he knew the villain was going to throw at him.

As expected, the Collector ordered the dragon to attack him. Spitting fireballs at Antelope, the dragon then charged against the young hero, with the intention of burning him and reducing him to ashes. To Antelope's surprise, the fire dragon was a lot faster than it looked. For such a big creature, it moved as quick as lightning. The antelope hero felt the fiery heat from its claws, when it almost sliced him in half. In fact, everything around him looked like it was getting hotter by the second. He did not know if the Collector could actually increase the flames' temperature or not, but he was not going to stop to ask him either.

In a matter of seconds, he tried several times to attack the Collector, but the fiery dragon prevented him form getting too close to him. Every time he thought he had found an opening to strike, the dragon cut him off, by placing itself in front of its creator and spit fireballs, one larger than the previous one.

"This is starting to get too hot for my taste…" -Antelope said, as he noticed the rain had stopped pouring. It was so hot inside that blazing infernothat the rain evaporated before it touched the ground. –"This dragon is not going to let me hurt this guy… and I bet that if I try to attack it, my bat would light up like a match once it touched it… if only I could get out of here…"

And that was when he had an idea. He knew that if he tried to jump over the wall of flames, the Collector would most likely would just raise it even higher, or throw the fire dragon he had created against him, turning him into antelope stew. But, if he could go through the flames, without getting burned, he could not stop him, and he would be able to keep running. Remembering of a trick with his bat he had developed during training a couple of months earlier, he felt was ideal for what he was about to do. The trick was rather simple, and if it worked, it would allow him to cross the flames, untouched.

"Let's see if it works… if not, I'm going to be a roasted antelope."

While running, he began to rotate his wrist in a circle, creating what one could call a sort of centrifugal movement with the bat. If his idea worked, he would use that trick to clear open a whole in the wall of flames, allowing him to jump outside of it. Dashing towards the wall of flames, he jumped, while pulling that stunt. This allowed him to cross it, unscathed. Once outside, he was greeted by the cold icy wind and the rain, as this one fell on his warm face and body. The difference in temperature, felt to him like he had come out of a steaming sauna, diving into an icy lake right after. Without taking a second to catch his breath, he looked around and saw that while he was in there, a few police cars had arrived and surrounded the flaming wall. And they were not the only ones, who showed up to see what was going on. A few more police cars, along with the fire engines and ambulances from multiple fire brigades had also showed up to extinguish the fires caused by the Collector early on, while also looking to see if there was anyone injured. He had been so busy running, that he did nt have the opportunity to see the amount of damage done by the villain. Looking at it, it did not look as bad as he thought, but all of that could have been prevented, if he had just stayed at home.

"Are you alright?!" -one of the police officers near him asked, as he approached him.

"Get out of here!" -Antelope quickly warned him. He knew that the Collector was going to burst from behind that wall of flames at any second. –"It's not safe…"

Before he could finish the sentence, the wall of flames behind him exploded, throwing him and everyone around to the ground. If one had not seen it with their own eyes, it would think that a bomb had gone off. With his ears buzzing, he tried to ignore the buzzimg, while quickly opening his eyes to see what was happening. There was fair amound of broken glass on the floor, coming from the police cars window, which shattered upon the explosion. The police officers in his line of sight looked alright, but clearly shook by the explosion. Turning around, he saw the Collector floating in the air, accompanied by the fire dragom he had created. Seeing him, some of the police officers thought that he was one more of Hawk Moth's akumatized victims.

"No, don't shoot him!" -Antelope begged the nearest police officers. –"If you do, he'll kill you…" -he warned them, as he turned his attention back to the villain. –"There people have nothing to do with this! Your quarrel is with me!"

"That, I agree…" -the Collector said. –"We've been playing this game for far longer than it is necessary… Give me your miraculous now, and like I said, I'll spare your life! Or, fight me, and I'll pull it from your dead corpse."

Hearing him say those words, Antelope knew the Collector was not kidding. He had to get out of there, and find a place to hide, so he could revert back to his civilian form. But he was going to need a distraction, to give him a much needed headstart, just in case he decided ot use his super speed power again. Luckily, the police gave him the distraction he needed, by calling the Collector out, demanding him to come down and surrender. The Collector, who was in no mood to play, ordered the fire dragon to fire a fireball at the ground, scaring the officers. Taking advantage of it, Antelope sprinted out of there as fast as his legs allowed him.

" _Hate to do this, but trust me, you don't want this guy to get my miraculous._ " -he thought to himself, as he picked up the pace, heading east on the Quai de l'Hotel de Ville.

Hoping he could put on a good distance between the Collector and himself, Antelope kept running as fast as he could, and for about three seconds, he really believed he had left the villain behind. But when he saw another fireball hitting the ground just a few meters from him, he knew that it was going to take a little miracle for him to give the Collector the slip. He was now running on top of the head of the fire dragon he had created, and looked even more determined to catch Antelope's miraculous. The hero's first instinct, as he ran through the middle of some taxis that were coming in the opposite direction, was to go left and try to lose him in the nearby city blocks. But after what he had seen the Collector doing, he did not want to risk him destroying a building or hurting innocent bystanders. So, he had to find another way… to take him somewhere, where he knew he could not cause serious havoc, and the only place if occurred to him was the river. But this did not happen, because the next thing he knew, a fireball hit him directly, and send him flying over a couple of dozen meters into the air. Still trying to control his descent, he ended up hitting one of the lampshades on the Austerlitz Bridge, before falling on the river. Hitting the water, he almost passed out, and it took him all his strength just to keep conscious and not sink to the bottom of the Seine. Once at the surface, he gasped for air, while trying to see which way was closest to the river bank. His body felt broken and battered, which did not surprise him, given what happened a few seconds prior. Still, he forced himself to swim to the shore. Once he reached the shore, he used his arms to climb the pier, and he rolled on the ground, gasping for air. The pier was poorly illuminated, with only a lampshade lighting it, which made it hard for him to see. In his mind, he knew that he had to get up and start running again, but his body did not obey him. And before he could tell himself to get back on his feet, the fire dragon landed right next to him, with the Collector descending from his head, as this one disappeared. Looking at him, he saw just how exhausted Antelope looked. He was not going to admit it, but he had enjoyed chasing him.

"Time to end this." -the Collector said with his unemotional voice, as he approached Antelope, whose body had stopped responding due to both the pain and the exhaustion.

"D-Don't…" -Antelope begged him.

"Hush, my boy… this is a solemn moment." -the Collector told him.

Making use of his telekinetic powers, he held Antelope against the ground, preventing him from move. The hero struggled to get lose, but it was in vain. All he could do was look at the Collector's eyes, as his fingers ran across the antelope miraculous.

"After all this time… you are mine…"

Touching the miraculous, Antelope reverted to plain old Kim. This both impressed and horrified him, as he did not know the Collector could do such a thing. Next, he removed the miraculous from Kim's wrist, holding in his right hand. As he saw this happening, Kim wished that that was nothing but a bad dream. But he knew it was not; the Collector had defeated him, and now he had his miraculous. Not taking his eyes of the miraculous, Kim wondered what the villain was planning to do next. The answer to that question came a few seconds later, when the Collector began to recite some kind of chant, in a language that Kim did not understand. As he spoke the words, antelope miraculous began to float in the air. Soon, a glowing light as strong as the Sun's, began to emanate from the miraculous, blinding Kim for a couple of seconds. As the glow died out, it revealed that where the antelope miraculous once was, now stood a golden rectangle with the antelope's miraculous symbol carved on it. Grabbing it, the Collector wasted no time in placing it in the belt he was wearing it. This one made a sort of bell sound, once the golden rectangle was inserted. Seeing this happening, Kim began to cry. He had just lost both his miraculous and his kwami, perhaps forever, and all because of his own stupidity.

"S-So, are y-you g-going to kill me now?!" -Kim asked him, as a few more tears ran down his face. One could hear the fear, mixed with rage in his voice. Never in his life had he been that scared and angry at the same time before. He blamed himself for everything that was going on. –"You a-already have my miraculous, so that means I'm worthless to you now!"

"No, not yet… before I end you, you're going to tell me where the other miraculouses are." -the Collector told him. –"When I was released from my prision, I sensed the energy of all fourteen miraculouses. Only then, when you have given me the location of every last one fo them, will I finish you… Aaaargh!"

The Collector let out a painful howl, which made him lose control of Kim's body, who landed hard on the floor. This was due to a taser shot on his back. Both he and Kim were so caught up in the moment, that they failed to hear the police arriving at the scene. One of the police officers, went to investigate, saw the Collector and decided to apprehend him. The surrounding darkness, along with the rain, made it hard for him to see both targets clearly. The one he spotted easier was the Collector, because of his glowing armour. Thankfully, the darkness made it hard for him to see Kim's face.

Angry, the Collector, turned around and decided to teach the man a lesson, for interrupting him. Using his doublesword, he launched it against him, attempting to turn hi into shish kebab. The police officer, nervous as he was, upon seeing the glowing weapon pointed at him, dropped the taser, and went for cover. Nothing he had learned at the academy had prepared him for this kind of encounter.

Kim, seeing the Collector distracted, knew that was his chance to flee. He was not going to tell him a single thing, even if that meant he died there. He felt exhausted and beaten. Even if he wanted to get up and run, he did not have the strength to do it. Not having another option, he rolled to the side, diving into the Seine's cold dark river. Unlike the first swim, this time the water did not seem to him as cold as the first time. Once inside water, he forced himself to dive, and remain under water for as long as he could. Moving his arms, he swam away, hoping the Collector would not find out where he was heading, and come after him. He held his breath until his lungs started to burn up. When he finally came to the surface, he was already near the Austerlitz Viaduct, where the Collector had caught him. Due to the darkness, he could not see if the Collector was still where he was before. The only thing he could see were the sirens from the numerous police cars that were parked near the bridge, as well as a fire truck.

"N-Not safe yet… I've got to… put some distance between me… and that b-bridge." -Kim said, diving once more.

The adrenaline, combined with his anger and fear allowed him to swim underwater, until he was near the Charles d'Gaule Bridge. He was counting on the fact that the Collector could not sense him without his miraculous, to make it to a secure place. Making one last effort, he managed to reach the shore, where he dropped, exhausted. He stood there, on the ground for what looked like an eternity, thinking. Thinking of what had happened, and how he was going to tell the others what had happened. And the more he thought about it, the more he knew that no matter how he painted it, the situation was dark. The Collector had caught his miraculous, because he insisted on putting it on, just so he could go out for a little bit, and in the process, he almost ended up dead.

"It's all my fault…" -Kim thought to himself. –"Imp… forgive me, buddy…" -he sighed, as tears began to roll down his face. Though if anyone looked at him, it would not know he was crying, because of the rain drops that kept falling on his face.

When he finally gathered the strength to get himself up, he did so, and began to walk, or better yet, to drag himself up the stairs that granted him access to the street above him. He was soaking wet, his body hurt all over, especially his ribs and his left ankle. With no wallet, and no cell phone, it was not going to be easy to go back home. And though he wanted to find a place to rest out of the rain, he was afraid that if he stopped walking, he would drop dead on the floor. So, he kept walking, thinking that that was going to be a really long walk back home.

As he was walking, he heard a bus approaching him from behind, which did not surprise him. Even with that weather, there would be buses and other kinds of public transportation working on that night. What surprised him, was that this began to slow down, only to stop right where he was. Kim noticed there was no stop where he was, so he wondered why the bus had stopped there? When the bus doors opened and he heard the driver, he understood why it had stopped.

"Hey, kid, get in! It doesn't matter if you don't have a pass, no one should be out in rain at this time of night."

Never in his life had he been so happy to hear such words. He noticed the bus was heading on the opposite direction to his house, but he did not care. All he wanted was to get out of the rain and rest for a bit, and trying to get his strength back, while dealing with pain he was in.

"T-Thank you…" -Kim thanked the driver, as he entered the bus.

"Whoa, kid, what happened to you? Did you fall on the river after a fight?" -the driver asked him. Kim looked quite terrible.

"N-No… I just l-lost my umbrella, and while trying to catch it, I ended up falling on a huge puddle." -Kim lied, as he sat down. He noticed he was the only passenger aboard the bus. –"Ended up losing it, and I also sprained my ankle. It hasn't been my night, you know?" -he said, as he tried not to move too much. The last thing he needed was to draw attention to himself. –"What about you? S-Slow night, huh?"

"Yeah, you could say that. But not to the police, it seems." -the driver said, as he closed the door. –"According to what they're saying on the radio, another one of Hawk Moth's victims is on the loose, and was seen fighting one of the Miraculous." -he commented.

"Really?" -Kim asked, pretending to be impressed by the news. –" _They're so going to kill me tomorrow at school…_ " -he thought to himself, while trying not to think too hard on the subject, as well as on the pain he was feeling.

* * *

Max had finished studying, and was now playing some videogames. Since his aprents were both working the night shift that week, he had the whole house just for himself. And that meant only one thing… no one to tell him that he was yelling too loud, while playing online. On that evening, he chose to play some Overwatch, with his favourite Tank character, Roadhog. He loved ot play as Roadhog, because it was one of the characters in which he managed to earn play of the game with relative ease.

"Come on! You're not even trying!" –Max told the other online players on his team. He had found out that playing videogames helped him to forget that he did not have Ari around to keep him company, as well as giving him a way to use all his frustration and anger towards something positive. –"Am I the only one who knows how to play this game, or what? Because if I am, then you guys need to start learning it!"

He was so caught in the game that he did not hear the doorbell ringing at first. When he heard it, he checked the time on his alarm clock and wondered who could it be at that time of night. As he got up, he wondered if it was one of the neighbours, who had come to the door to complain about his yelling. It would not be the first time this happened. As he reached the door, the doorbell rang once more, and this time, the person who rang it, also knocked at the door.

"I'm coming, I'm coming… hold your horses." -Max said, as he unlocked the door and opened. –"Yes... Jesus Christ, Kim! What happened to you?!" -he yelled, as he saw his friend leaning against the door jamb, trying not to fall.

"T-The C-Collector happened, bro…"

"The Collector?! What're you talking about?" -Max said, as he helped him enter.

"H-He g-got me… n-nearly killed me…" -Kim said. –"Aargh… oh, my ribs… I just hope I haven't broken one."

"Hold on, let's get you into the kitchen, and you can tell me everything about it." -Max told him. –"Geez, you look like you were run over by a truck… no, make that a truck and a steamroller."

Once he sat on one of the kitchen's chairs, Kim quickly told Max what had happened to him, and how he had screwed up. He told him about the Collector, about how he managed to escape him, and hoe he ended up inside the bus that stopped a couple of blocks from his best friend's house. Remembering that Max's parents were working that night, he decided to come ask him for help. Max heard him, and though he understood why he did it, he still could not believe that he had done it.

"W-What were you thinking, man?!" -Max asked him, as his brain was still processing the whole tale.

"I-I w-wasn't, Max… I-I just… I was so sick of being locked inside… and I was also sick of those mood swings, and not having any energy… aarrh… I needed to fell like I was, you know, my old self…" -Kim told him, fighting the pain coming from his ribs. –"Aaargh, I think I might actually have a broken rib…"

"And so, you put on your miraculous, transformed into Antelope, went for a quick race and you end up fighting against the Collector, who defeated you, got your miraculous, and nearly killed you." -Max declared, to which Kim silently waved his head. –"I mean, I'm shocked with you attitued, but you know that the others are going to be furious when they find this out… and they will, in the morning, if they don't know it already."

"I-I know… aargh! It's starting to g-get hard to breath without s-screaming." -Kim said, clearly in pain.

"You need to go to a hospital." -Max told him

"N-No, no hospitals, bro. B-Besides, what would I t-tell, if they asked how I ended up like this? Plus, my p-parents would f-find out about it, and I would be in even b-bigger trouble. Jus c-call Master Fu, and tell him to c-come here. Maybe he has something that can heal me." -Kim told him.

"Good idea… but in the meantime, you better lay down either on the living room's sofa, or in my bed." -Max told him.

"T-Thanks, Max."

"Don't thank me just yet. We still need to get you back into shape… and you better start telling yourself that when the others find out about this, they're going to kill you, or the very least, punch you in the face, Kim." -Max said, as he picked up his cell phone, to call Master Fu.

* * *

Thankfully, Master Fu knew just what to do, when Max called him for help. The holder of the spider miraculous did not go into details on what had happened to Kim, but by the concern in his voice, the old master knew that something bad had happened. In fact, if instead of reading one of the numerous books he had brought with him from the Miraculous temple in garden of the Ancients, to reseasch a way to defeat and contain the Collector, he had been watching television or hearing the radio, he would have known what had happened.

While they waited for Master Fu to arrive, Max suggested that Kim was to stay the night at his place. Telling him to just relax, Max gave Kim some clothes of his father's clothes, which he felt were Kim's size, for him to wear, while his clothes washed, telling him that they would be clean and dry for him in the morning. The clothes Max gave Kim were an old pyjama from his dad. Trying his best not to yelp out of pain, while putting them on, Kim found out the pyjama was just his size.

"Thanks, Max. At least I won't catch a pneumonia." -Kim commented, as he buttoned the pyjama.

When Master Fu arrived at Max's home, the first thing he did was to make sure that Kim was alright. Kim himself was resting on the sofa, trying not to move much, so as to not yelp in pain. Having been the previous holder of the turtle miraculous, the old master had retained some of the powers granted by the miraculous, like giving him an extended life, and more importantly, the ability to heal others with his touch. Upon seeing Kim, Master Fu knew, just from looking at him, that Kim was in great pain. Examining him, he figured that he had two broken ribs, and that his left ankle was very sore. Telling him he was quite lucky; the old master, then used his healing powers to cure him. As he did it, Kim talked, trying to think of something other than the pain he was feeling.

"M-Master… I-I screwed up…" -Kim said.

"Indeed, you did…" -Master Fu agreed with him.

"A-And, a-aren't you going to y-yell at me?" -Kim asked the old master. He was sure he would yell at him, and call him every last name on the book- But instead, he did the exact opposite.

"Let me put it this way. If I yelled at you, telling you what you did was incredibly stupid and dangerous, would it bring your miraculous back? Or perhaps, would it make time go back, thus allowing me, or you, to prevent what just happened, from happening?" -Master Fu told him in a serene and calm voice. –"No, it wouldn't. And as I see it, you are already feeling the price of the consequences of your act." -he told him. –"All that it matters is that you managed to get away from the Collector, and you survived to tell the tale."

"T-Thank you, master…"

"For what?"

"Y-You know… for curing me, and… and for not saying "I told you this would happen if you were careless and stupid." -Kim sighed.

"Well, you're welcome." -Master Fu smiled. –"And don't you worry. Somehow, someway, we will get your miraculous back. Remember, until he has all of the miraculouses in his belt, we can try and get it back." -he reminded him, as he finished healing him. –"Now, you should get some rest. Tomorrow is a new day, and you have to go to school."

"What about the Collector, master? He's out there, waiting." -Max said.

"Indeed, he is. Which means that I must hurry and research faster for a way to trap him again." -Master Fu declared.

"My offer to help you in your research still stands, master." -Max reminded him.

"If that's so, then, I think I'll take it, Max. I was counting that the Collector would take a little longer to get to Paris, but it seems, he got here a little faster." -Master Fu said, with a serious voice. –"Time is of the essence."

"Very well. Tomorrow, after school, I'll go with you and help you research." -Max declared.

"S-Speaking of school, I don't even want to think of how the others are going to react, when they find out about this…" -Kim said. He was feeling better, now that Master Fu had cured him. Still, he was feeling a bit sore, and knew that his muscles were going to feel like that for a couple of days.

"I think they already know… They are talking about it on the TV. The news channels couldn't get footage of the action themselves, but there are already a couple of videos of what happened, taken by the people close to the action, online. And at least in two of them, you're seen running from the Collector." -Max declared, having seen the videos himself. –"If they didn't know before, they do now." -he said.

"I'm so screwed…" -Kim sighed, already imagining the whole scene in his head.

"There, patience, Kim. They are your friends. They might get angry at you; some more than others, but they will forgive you." -Master Fu told him. –"And remember, whatever happens, unity is the key to victory in this case, and you must all be united against the common enemy."

* * *

Master Fu's wise words were still echoing in Kim's head when he arrived at school the following day and heard it from his friends. Most of them found out through the news on the Internet. Alya and Nino themselves found out through the Miraculous Blog earlier that night, when they saw the blog's email account stuffed with emails of people who had sent either videos or photos of what happened. As for the rest, they found out by the television, or by the radio. All tried to call Kim, to find out what had happened, but because he had left his cell phone at home, they were unable to do it.

Finally, they all decided to call Master Fu, to tell him what had happened, panicking. Juleka was the one, whose call the old master picked up, and he told her what had happened, stating that Kim was alright and that he was staying at Max's house that night. More calls followed, and he told them the very same story. It did not take long for Alya to create a chatroom for all of them to talk about it. From angry rants to outbursts, they all talked about just how irresponsible Kim had been. Max himself did not tell anything that was talked on the chatroom to Kim, both because he fell asleep, shortly after Master Fu left, and because he felt that the others would be a little calmer in the morning, and there was no need for him to hear, or read what they had said the previous night. While they were heading to school, Max got a text from Alya, telling him and Kim to meet them at the school's rooftop upon arrival.

They all arrived earlier that day, so they could talk about what happened with Kim. With half an hour until Miss Bustier showed up for their first class, they all went to the rooftop, where they would have some privacy to talk. Upon arriving, Kim was met with a series of mad looks from his friends. What foolowed next was exactly what he had imagined the previous night. There was no shortage of commentaries, regarding Kim's actions the previous night, and he heard them all, without saying a single word. Everyone of them reacted to what he had done differently. Some were upset, others were mad, and others were simply disappointed or enraged. But none of them was as enraged and upset with Kim as Alix was. She was so enraged, that not being able to control her feelings, she slapped him on the face as hard as she could.

"Ouch!" -Kim exclaimed, still feeling the sting of Alix's slap on his face. Looking her in the eyes, he rubbed the place where her hand had landed a few seconds before, trying to ease the pain.

"You… are… the… stupidest… most selfish… egotistic… self-centered… person… I… have… ever… known!" -Alix yelled at Kim. –"What were you thinking, when you put your miraculous, Kim?! Tell me!"

"I-I…"

"No! Don't say anything! It's best if you don't, because if you say the wrong thing, I might slap you again, and this time even harder!" -Alix yelled at Kim. –"And as much as I feel like doing it, I don't want to." -she told him, trying to control her temper.

"B-But, Alix…" -Kim said.

"I told you not say anything! After all the warnings Master Fu gave us, and all the times Marinette said that we shouldn't use our miraculouses, so that nutcase wasn't able to find us, you go ahead, put yours on just so you can go out for a race, because you were bored, and you end up losing it to the very same nutcase who's after us! I swear to God, you only think of yourself!" -Alix glared at him, as she turned heel and moved away from the group. Upon seeing one or two of them trying to catch up to her, she turned around and begged them not to. –"No, don't follow me… I need to be alone for a bit, please, because if not, I'll end up killing this idiot with my bare hands!" -she said, as she walked out of there, umbling something, while heading downstairs.

Seeing her like that, Marinette asked Rose, Juleka and Mylene to go to her, while keeping their distance from her. She knew just how Alix was, and when she calmed down, she was going to need someone to talk to, as well as a hug. The girls quickly did as she asked them to, leaving the rest of the class with Kim. It was not until they went down the stairs, that the conversation restarted.

"I think deserved that slap…" -Kim sighed, as he sat on the floor.

"Did something made you think otherwise?" -Ivan asked him. –"Even if you didn't deserve it, she would have still slapped you." -he said.

"You can't blame her for doing what she did, Kim. What you did was very selfish, not to mention irresponsible." -Marinette told him. –"She has all the right to slap you the way she did."

"Still, she could've punched me in the gut instead. It would've hurt a little less." -Kim said. –"I know what I did wasn't right, but come on… a slap on the face? You guys are also mad at me, and with reason, but none of you slapped me in the face."

Hearing him say that, made Alya wish to slap him senseless. Still, she did not do it, because she knew, that unlike Nino, her boyfriend, some boys did not understand that sometimes a girl acts the way she does around a certain boy, not because she hates him, but because she cares about him, and he just does not get it.

"You really are an idiot, you know that, Kim?" -Alya told Kim.

"Why's that?" -Kim asked her.

"Alix's not angry at you… I mean, she is angry, believe me. You should've heard her, before you arrived, and also last night at the chatroom. She was so mad at you, that she could chew nails." -Alya told him. –"But she isn't angry, and mad at you, just because you lost your miraculous. She is angry and mad, because you almost died last night. She may not say out loud, but she cares about you." -she commented.

"So, you're saying that she slapped me, because she cares about me, is that it?" -Kim asked her. –"You girls are really complicated…" -he said in a sarcastic voice, when he felt something hitting him on the back of the head. Hearing him say that, Chloe, who did not like the way he said that last sentence, smacked him on the head. –"Ouch! What was that for?! Don't tell me you also care about me, and you decided to smack me on the head to demonstrate it?!"

"You wished, Kim. That's for calling us girls complicated." -Chloe told him, in a cynical voice. –"We're not complicated, Kim. We're complex… am I right, or am I right, Sabrina?"

"Yes, we are." -Sabrina agreed with her.

"Okay, okay, you're complex… there, are you happy?" -Kim told her.

"Can we get back to the main issue here?" -Nino asked, breaking up that tiny argument. –"Thanks to Kim, we have one less miraculous. Which means, the Collector has one of our miraculous in his possession. And according to what Kim said, he's not going to stop until he gets all of them. And that includes torturing and killing us, to find out where they are."

"Look, it doesn't matter if he has one of our miraculouses right now." -Marinette said.

"It doesn't, girl?" -Alya asked her.

"No, it doesn't. What matters is that we can't let him get his hands on any other, and that means, that no matter what, we can't use out miraculouses." -Marinette said. –"From what Kim told us, this guy isn't one of Hawk Moth's victims, who usually just wants to take our miraculouses and destroy them, while seeking revenge against the person, or persons, who they blame for their bad luck. This guy will kill us first, and then take our miraculouses from our dead bodies." -she declared in a rather grim and serious voice. –"So, I'm going to repeat what I said before. No one puts their miraculous on, no matter what. We can't let that guy get his hands on another miraculous."

"But what if Hawk Moth decides to show up?" -Nathaniel asked her. –"Or better yet… what if the Collector decides to cause trouble, just to get our attention?"

"I… I don't know…" -Marinette said, feeling frustrated with all of that. –"I don't really know…"

Seeing Marinette struggling with what to say the others, Adrien decided to lend her a hand. After all, as the co-leader and second-in-command of the MIracullous Team, had grown accostumed to help out Marinette, when he felt she needed it.

"Look, there's no point in thinking about that right now. When we get to that bridge, we'll find out how we will cross it, okay?" -Adrien told the others, while looking at Marinette and smiling at her, who smiled back at her. –"We will get through this, all of us."

"You always know what to say, Adrien." -Nino told him. –"That's why you and Marinette make such a great team." -he told them, making them blush lightly.

"Oh, it's nothing really." -Adrien said, as he kept blushing.

"Wrong, it is something." -Marinette said, while looking him in the eyes. –"I know I can always count on you for help." -she smiled.

"Well, if you say, so, I'll take that as a cumpliment, milady." -Adrien told Marinette, making her blush even harder.

" _These two… they might as well tell each other they're in love with one another._ " -Alya rolled her eyes, while giggling.

"So, that means that from here on, we don't use them, no matter what, right?" -Sabrina asked.

"Yes." -Adrien told her. –"And while at it, we better start praying for two things. First, that Master Fu finds a way to trap the Collector, and fast… and second, that that guy doesn't try to cause trouble, just to get us to put on our miraculouses." -he said. –"We already have enough trouble as it is with the tests during the next few days."


	13. Doing the Right Thing

Three days went by after the Collector’s first appearance and the loss of the antelope miraculous. During that time, on the Internet, people came up with all sorts of theories regarding the new villain that torched the Pompidou Centre and the Rue Beaubourg. The questions being asked were “who was he?”, “where had he come from?”, “was he another victim of Hawk Moth, and if not, what did he want?”, among others. The police themselves were stumped with what happened. The officers who got a better look at the Collector were all interrogated, including the one who managed to taser him and escape unharmed, in hopes of getting a lead. Still, none of them saw a single thing that could point them in the right direction. To make matters worse, the Collector had not shown himself since that night.

The reconstruction work began in both the Pompidou Centre, and the streets where the Collector had caused major damage, while at the same time, the media demanded answers from Mayor Bourgeois, questioning him on why had not Ladybug or any of the other members from the Miraculous Team showed up, with the exception of Antelope, who mysteriously disappeared that night, fightuing that new enemy. They also questioned him on why during previous times the city had been attacked, the heroes had always used some kind of power to put things back the way they were, while this time, that did not happen, leaving numerous streets and buildings damaged. Needless tosay, the mayor had his hands full with the press. Stepping into the press room, he knew the reporters were hungry for information. After all, it was their job to provide the news. As soon as he saw himself on the stand, the questions began.   

“Mayor Bourgeois, there has been a rumour that the Miraculous Team has decided that they will not save the city anymore, unless they are paid for it, just like every worker on the payrolls of City Hall. Is that true?” -the reporter asked the Mayor.   

“Not at all. All those rumours are just that, rumours. What I can tell you is that City Hall, in cooperation with the French government, is already taking action to ensure that our fair city is returned to its glorious and prestigious form.” -Mayor Bourgeois answered him.

“Regarding the attack by the new fiend, the police have yet to comment on whether this one is a new fiend created by the terrorist Hawk Moth, or a brand-new villain, acting independently. Do you have any information, that you wpuld like to share with the public, regarding that matter?” -a woman reporter asked.

“I have nothing to say about that matter. But I can assure you that the Parisian police is on the case.” -Mayor Bourgeois answered her.

“What about the Miraculous Hero Antelope? I have sources that say that he was killed in action and that the police have decided not to reveal it to the public, after you told them not to.” -another woman reporter stated, which surprised the mayor, who was not expecting to hear such accusations.  

“Well, then your sources are wrong. As far as I know, the police aren’t hiding anything, and I certainly did not order them to hide anything from the public either. The mere thought of it is outrageous.” -Mayor Bourgeois declared. –“And before you ask more questions, let me say something, which I think is something that should be said, not only to the media, but also to the public.” -he said in a serious tone. –“Please, allow me to say this. City Hall and the police forces of Paris have nothing to hide from the general public, not now, not ever. It is true that only one of the Miraculous Heroes was spotted during the attack a few nights ago, and that he disappeared mysteriously. Still, no body has been found by the authorities, who searched around the place where he was last seen. This can only mean that hopefully, he has managed to escape unharmed. As for the rest of the heroes, no one knows why they did not show up. But whatever the reason is, I am sure that is a good one. The Miraculous Team has not failed this city and its inhabitants since they first showed up, and I believe that when this new villain shows up again, they will show up, and do everything in their power to protect us.”      

Even with those words, Mayor Bourgeois was not able to appease the reporters, who were hungry for a good story. As he kept answering the reporters’ questions, he himself wondered where the Miraculous Team was and why they did not appear the other night, when Paris needed them the most? It was a mystery, whose answer could only be given that only the heroes themselves.     

Still, the heroes themselves had their own troubles o solve, and were too busy to even pay attention to what was going on with the both the political and the news aspect of their sudden disappearence. Test after test, they all tried their best to pass them with flyimg colours, which proved to be a challenge. With everything that was going on, it was hard for them to focus on getting good grades. Some people would say that a little pressure never hurt anyone… but those people had definitely never had a crazy, homicidal hunter of miraculouses, who was trapped for a few milleniums, after them, while also dealing with everyday problems. Upon finishing their Algebra test, which was the last in their list of tests, Miss Bustier’s class felt like they had gone through an ordeal like the ones of the knights from the Round Table looking for the Holy Grail went.

“If I don’t see another test during the next couple of weeks, it will be too soon.” -Mylene sighed to Ivan, as they left the classroom. –“I’m bushed.”

“Me too… I just hope I got enough right answers on this one, or I’ll have to to do a recovery exam later on.” -Ivan told her.

“I bet you manage to get enough answers right.” -Mylene smiled to Ivan, who smiled back at her.  

At lunch hour, the mood had not improved. Though they were finally rid of the tests, they still had big problems hanging over their head. With still no word from Master Fu, regarding a way to trap the Collector, they could still not put their miraculouses on and spring into action. That also meant that their levels of energy were going to stay at a minimum, along with their disposition to do anything else. Most of them just wanted to go home and sleep durng the whole weekend.

Still, there were one or two of them who were feeling like doing something else, other than sleeping. One of them was Alya, who was trying to convince Marinette to do a sleepover at her place. At first, Marinette was not really in the mood for sleepovers. But Alya knew how to be persistent, and ended up convincing her that a sleepover was what the two of them needed to get their energies back.

“We’re going to do what we always do in sleepovers, Marinette.” -Alya smiled at her best friend. –“We’re going to read the latest gossip, watch scary movies where you pretend that you’re scared, but you’re actually not. We’re going to bake cookies, by using one of your parents’ recipes, or even one of your grandmother Gina’s, if we’re in the mood for some exotic cookies… like those pistachio and cranberry cookies she used to make us on cold, rainy days. Or maybe those maple glazed apple crisp cookies she made for us that one time, when you bruised your knees, while trying to learn how to skate… you remember that time?” -she asked Marinette, trying to cheer her up. –“You were all sad because you were hurt, and because you believed that you were never going to learn to skate, even though I was telling you would, sooner or later… and your grandmother backed us those, just to make you stop crying. The moment you bit the first one, you stopped crying and started smiling. I remember calling them “Smiling cookies”, because they made you smile, when you were sad.”

“I don’t know, Alya. I’m not really in the mood…” -Marinette sighed. –“I just feel like going home and sleep through the weekend.” -she said, dispirited.

Hearing her say those words, Alya knew her best friend needed to be cheered up, and she was the right person to do it. She just had to convince her that a sleepover was what she needed to go back to her old cheerful, happy and go-lucky self.   

“Come on, girl! We finished our tests! We need to celebrate!” -Alya tried to cheer her up. –“Look, I know that not having Tikki around you is hard, but listen, I don’t have Trixx with me either, so we got to be there for one another, right?” -she smiled at Marinette, who smiled back at her. –“And you know what? I know that if the two of them were here now, they would be telling us both that we ought to do a sleepover, so we could both relax and try to forget the fact that we have yet another psycho looking for us, so he can take our miraculouses and use them to enslave the world. Come on, what do you say?”

“Oh, alright… I guess Tikki would say something like that.” -Marinette sighed. –“Still, I’m the one who chooses the horror movies.”

“That’s my girl!” -Alya hugged Marinette. –“Okay, after the last class, you go home and get ready. I’ll go get a couple of things from my place, and then I’ll meet you later.” -she said.

True to her word, as soon as the bell rang, signalling the end of classes, and the beginning of the well-deserved weekend, Alya told everyone to have a great weekend, and rushed to her house, to get the things she needed for the sleepover. When she arrived, she saw that the twins had not arrived from school yet, and that her dad, Otis, was in the living room, resting on his day-off.

“Hey, dad!” -Alya said, as she approached him, giving him a big kiss on the cheek.

“Well, hello there, Alya.” -Otis said. –“You look happy today. What’s the occasion?”

“Oh, nothing special… we just finished our tests today, and Marinette is throwing a sleepover and invited me to go. Do you think I can?” -Alya asked him, by altering the story just a little bit.

“I don’t know, Alya. Your mom and I are going to celebrate our marriage anniversary this weekend, in our usual place, and someone has to keep an eye on Ella and Etta.” -Otis reminded her. She had totally forgotten about it. Their parents had been talking about that trip for the past few weeks almost everyday, and her father had decided to use two of his vacation days, so he could enjoy a romantic weekend with his wife.   

“What about Nora? Can’t she do it?” -Alya asked him. Her older sister was at home that weekend, so she could babysit the twins, instead of her.

“She’s got training, first thing in the morning, and says she can’t. She says she has an important match coming up, and she needs to train even harder.” -Otis told her.

“Oh, come on, dad. Marinette needs this… she’s been feeling a little blue lately. She practically begged me to go.” -Alya told him, trying to change his mind. –“Besides, Nora can train inside the house. We have a treadmill, that’s collecting dust over there.” -she said. –“Look, if she wants to go training, tell her when she arrives, that I’ll be back home before lunch tomorrow. She just needs to keep an eye on the twins tonight and tomorrow morning. That way, you and mom can go on your romantic weekend, I’ll be able to go to Marinette’s sleepover, and Nora can train the rest of the day, that I’ll handle the little monkeys.”

Otis Cesaire was not the kind of man who changed his mind about an issue easily. Luckily, Alya had the talent to make him change his mind. In fact, she was the only one in the Cesaire household who could do it, not counting her mother. And once again, with that speech of hers, and the brilliant alternative she proposed, he agreed to let her go.

“Okay, you win. I’ll tell Nora that she’ll just have to babysit Ella and Etta, until you come back tomorrow morning. She’s not going to like it, but that’s how it’s going to be.” -Otis told his middle daughter.

“Thanks, dad! You’re the best!” -Alya said, as she gave her dad a big hug. –“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve go to go and pack a couple of things for the sleepover.” -she said, leaving Otis to keep watching the movie that was on the television.

* * *

Because of the tests, Max was only able to help Master Fu a little with his research. But with the tests behind him, he was going to be able to help Master Fu, like he had promised. As he walked to the house of the old master, he pictured in his mind the pile of books he had waiting for him, when he got there. Like most books, those were in old Chinese, but thanks to an old spell Master Fu had found while researching, which when cast, allowed one to understand any written language for a couple of hours, he was not going to have any problems with it. Still, the pile of books waiting for him was just a small sample of the number of books they had to read, in order to find a spell to defeat and trap the Collector. To make matters worse, now they also had to find a spell which allowed them to recover the antelope miraculous from the Collector, before trapping him. All in all, they had a lot of work to do.

“I just hope I can help…” -Max thought to himself, as he kept walking down the street. Studying for the tests and doing the tests had exhausted him, and part of him just wanted to go home, to sleep. But he knew he could not do that. Master Fu and his friends were counting on him, and he did not want to disappoint them. Plus, by doing that, it allowed his brain to not think about the fact that he had someone hunting him, because of his miraculous.

Arriving at Master Fu’s, he knocked at the door, and waited for the old man to open. Looking down to the plastic bag, where he had the box of cookies he had bought for the old master, he was hoping he liked them. He knew Master Fu had a sweet tooth, and since they would be working until later, he figured that bringing a little snack for them to chew on, while working would not be a bad idea. Hearing footsteps behind the door, he smiled, as the old master opened the door.

“Oh, Max, you have arrived. Come in, come in.” -Master Fu said, as he stepped aside to let him enter.

“Thank you, master.” -Max said, as he entered. –“Hope you don’t mind, but I brought something for us to eat, while we work.”

“Oh, that’s nice of you. But you didn’t need to do it.” -Master Fu said, as he closed the door behind him.

“Oh, it was nothing. Besides, we’re going to need all the calories we can ingest to help us through this task.” -Max said, as he looked around the living room and noticed that the number of books in it had increased. The day before, there were only, maybe six or seven piles of books around. Now, there were at least twenty. –“Whoa, did you bring the whole library with you, master?”

“Oh, not even close… though the number of books from the library of the Miraculous Order that has survived isn’t as a high as one would like it to be, this is nothing.” -Master Fu told him in an amused voice, as the whistling sound of the teapot was heard. –“I was just about to  make some tea. Do you have any favourite kind? Oolong, chamomille, green tea?”

“Uh… I’ll have green tea, master.”

“Very well. Green tea it is.” -Master Fu shouted from the kitchen. –“By the way, what did you tell your parents, you were doing today after school?”

“I told them that I was going to help a friend with a thing he was doing… which isn’t a lie. After all, I am helping out a friend…” -Max laughed.

“Well, when you put it that way, yes, you aren’t lying.” -Master Fu said. –“I have to thank you again for helping me with this.”

“You don’t have to, master. It’s my pleasure.” -Max said. –“Besides, two pairs of eyes read faster than just one, and we desperately need to read faster than ever, now that Kim lost his miraculous to the Collector.” -he sighed, as he sat on the floor and grabbed a book from the pile he had been reading the previous afternoon. –“Like you said before, time if of the essence.”

“It really is, Max.” -Master Fu said, as he returned with a teapot on his hands, placing it on the coffee table, where ten or twenty books were staked on top of one another. –“But, with some luck, we’ll be able to pull this off.” -he smiled.

“Well, let’s hope so.” -Max said.  –“Whenever you want, master.”

“Oh, yes, I almost forgot… I need to cast that speel, so you can understand what you’re reading.” -Master Fu laughed, as he readied himself. –“Very well, here it goes…” -he said, as his hands began to glow orange. Pointing them to Max, the glow flew towards him, enveloping him for a brief second, before it disappeared. –“There, that should do it.”

“It sure did, master. I can already understand what’s written on the cover.” -Max said. –“Now, let’s see if what I find in this book can help us.” -he declared, as opened it and began to read it.

* * *

After finishing the Algebra test, Chloe told Sabrina that she was going to need to take a recovery test. The redhead told her that maybe it was not necessary, and that perhaps she thought that, because of the nerves. Still, Chloe did not believe that. She truly believed she had screwed up on the test, and that in a couple of days, she would have to do a recovery test. From all the tests she and the rest of the class had taken during those two days, that one had been the one she believed was going to flunk.

Sabrina herself believed she had done good on the test, and believed that Chloe had also done good as well. Still, she could not bear to see her best friend that down. Feeling she needed to cheer up, she asked if she wanted to come with her shopping, after school. She knew the blonde did not resist going out shopping. Whenever the two of them went shopping, Chloe would usually buy half of everything she saw in every store they entered, while Sabrina herself, would only buy maybe one or two items, with the blonde offering her a couple of things she liked, in the process. Most times, Sabrina begged her not to do that, because she flet like she was taking advantage of their friendship, with Chloe saying that if she did not accept them, she would be very mad at her.

“Come on, Chloe, I need a new sweater.”

“Go without me, Sabrina… I’m not in the mood.” -Chloe pouted. –“I just want to go home, eat some chocolate and sleep through the weekend.” -she sighed.

Hearing her say that, Sabrina knew, more than ever, that she needed to make Chloe come with her. Ever since she had taken her miraculous, confinnning her kwami, Pollen, inside it, that Chloe had begun to doubt whether she was really a good person, or if the reason why she had begun to be nicer to everyone, was a side-effect from wearing the bee miraculous. Sabrina had already told her that that was just a whole lot of hogwash and that deep down, she knew that. And right then, Sabrina knew that if she let Chloe go home after school, she would just spend the rest of the day doubting herself, and crying herself to sleep.   

“But, Chloe, the last time I went to buy a sweater that I thought was cute, you ended up saying that it did not match the rest of my wardrobe…” -Sabrina reminded her. –“I need you to help me.” -she begged her. –“Come on, it will be fun. We’ll go shopping, and you can tell me if something looks good on me, or not, and then… when we’re through shopping, I’ll treat you to a waffle, or maybe one of those funnel cakes you like so much, what do you say?”

Chloe did not say a word right away. She looked Sabrina in the eyes and tried to come up with an excuse to not go with her. She was not in the mood to do anything. But the more she looked the redhead in the eyes, the harder it was for her to say no to her. She tried to look away, but Sabrina’s eyes, with her almost hypnotic look, made it impossible for her to do so. Her eyes were practically screaming “Come with me, please, Chloe! I’m begging you!”. Sighing in defeat, she said:

“Okay, I’ll go with you… but you better not forget about those funnel cakes. I’m only going, because when I get sad, I like to eat sweet things, and those funnel cakes are super sweet.”

“Thanks, Chloe!” -Sabrina hugged her. She believed the blonde would tell her she did not like to be hugged, when she was feeling down, and to just let her go. But she did not do it. Instead, she just smiled, and allowed her to hug her for as long as she wanted to.

As soon as the classes were over, Sabrina literally dragged Chloe out of the school, into the street, with only one thing in her mind… to go on a shopping spree and help her best friend to feel better that day. Walking down the street, she was determined to make Chloe smile that afternoon, even if it killed her. As for Chloe, the blonde herself was wondering why did she agree to go with Sabrina in the first place?

Usually when they went on a shopping spree, Chloe would have her buttler Jean pick them up and take them to whatever store the blonde remembered seeing something she had liked. But not that day. On that day, they both took the subway, getting out on the Ópera starion. Picking up the pace, Sabrina dragged Chloe to the front of the Le Printemps Haussmann, near the Opera Garnier. The shopping mall spread over three buildings, rivalling in size and in opulence with The Harrods in London, and it was the place where one could find stores of famous luxury brands, such as Versace, Giorgio Armani, Burberrys, Louis Vuitton, Agreste, Hermès, Moschino, among many others. The whole place was described as a labyrinth of luxury goods. In sum, it was the kind of place that managed to put a smile on Chloe’s face, even on her worst days. She knew that as soon as Chloe went through the doors of that mall, that she would go back to being the same girl she was most of the time. Stopping in front of it, Chloe looked at Sabrina, wondering why they had stopped? And then it hit her… the sweater she wanted to buy, was in one of the stores inside. This, of course made Chloe laugh, because she knew just how expensive things were in that shopping mall.  

“Sabrina, are you telling me you want to go shopping here?” -Chloe asked her, in a skeptic voice. –“Whatever money you have in your purse, it won’t even be enough to buy a pair of socks in there, let alone a sweater.” -she said. –“You’d have to save your allowance for at least five years straight, just to buy a pair of socks, so don’t even ask me how long you’d have to save for a sweater.”

“Actually, no. Like you said, I don’t have money to even buy a pair of socks in that place, but I thought that, while we were passing by it, maybe you would want to… you know, check if there’s anything you like in there before we go check the store I want to go?” -Sabrina declared coyly.    

It did not take more than a couple of seconds for Chloe to understand what Sabrina was doing. The old Chloe would have screamed at her and tell her that she did not like when people manipulated or tricked her into doing something, she did not want to do. But the new Chloe found it sweet that her best-friend was trying to cheer her up, even when she did not feel like it. Once again, Sabrina had proved that she was her best-friend, for forcing her to do something she knew deep down she had to do, and that was to not go home, and sulk the rest of the day, while feeling miserable about herself.    

“You know… the old me would be very upset with you for being tricked like this.” -Chloe said, while raising her eyebrow.

“Believe me, I know that. But you’re not the old you, and you know I can’t stand seeing you this gloomy.” -Sabrina declared with a little smile on her face.

“I know.” -Chloe smiled, as she began to walk towards the entrance door. –“Well, are you coming or not? Don’t tell me you’re planning to wait here in the street for me?” -she winked her eye at Sabrina.

“Coming.” -Sabrina smiled, as she also walked tawards the entrance door. –“But, to tell you the truth, there really is a sweater that I was thinkning about buying, and I really want your opinion about it.” -she told her. –“When we get out of here, you and I can go there and..”

“Sabrina, forget that sweater you’re thinking about buying. I’ll buy you a better, and way prettier one. But only if you buy me one of those funnel cakes I like so much.” -Chloe smiled, as they went through the door.

* * *

As she had planned, Sabrina’s plan came to fruition. Once inside, Chloe looked around and her beautiful smile came back, more beautiful than ever before. In the windows of some of the stores, she saw things that she wanted to buy, or at the very least, try. Dragging Sabrina around, she visited every last one of the stores where she spotted something she marked as cute. The first store they visited was the Burberrys store, where she saw a beautiful purse, she knew she needed. While shopping, Chloe always reverted a little to her former bossy and obnoxious self, but only when she saw something she liked and the store staff told her that they did not have it at the moment. Luckily, Sabrina was there to help out. Whenever she saw that Chloe was beginning to sound a lot like her old self, she would step in and suggest her that she should try something else instead, thus ending the hustle. Armani, Dolce & Gabanna and Channel were the next shops they went to check out, and once more, Chloe decided she was getting a pair of every single item she deemed worthy of her wardrobe.

“Yes, one pair of each colour, and I’m also going to take one of those silk scarves, the yellow and black one. Do you want one as well, Sabrina? My treat.” -Chloe told her, as she looked at the scarves.

“No, thanks, Chloe.” -Sabrina said. She had spotted a very beautiful one that she liked, but Sabrina was not the sort of person who would take advantage of Chloe and her incredible wealth.

“Come on, Sabrina, look at this one.” –Chloe grabbed the one Sabrina had taken a fancy to, and showed her. –“It’s dark blue and grey and has these orange spots. Doesn’t remind you of a certain someone?” -she asked her, referring to Sabrina’s hero persona, Louve Grise, whose uniform had a similar colour scheme.

“Yes… I mean, it’s pretty, but I don’t want to…” -Sabrina agreed.

“You don’t want to what, Sabrina? Impose? Nonsense… consider it an early-birthday present from me to you.” -Chloe smiled, as she turned her attention to the store clerk. –“I’m also taking this one as well. Would you mind wrapping it? It’s a present for my friend here.” -she smiled.

And that silk scarf was not the only thing Chloe ended up buying Sabrina that afternoon. The blonde heiress bought her a beautiful Channel marine-blue sweater, as well as a pair of Armani leather boots, a Givenchi mini-skirt, an Agreste purple and black parka, not to mention several beauty and cosmetic items, she felt Sabrina was going to like. As for what she had bought for herself, the list was too long for her or Sabrina herself to remember all the items. Needless to say, if they had to carry all of them home, they would probably need a van to place them in. Luckily, they did not have to worry about that, because one of the great things of luxury stores, was that they delivered at home. After each purchase, Chloe ordered them to deliver everything at Le Grand Paris hotel, even the stuff she had bought for Sabrina, because the redhead kept telling her that if she sent them to her place, as soon as her parents saw the labels on the boxes, they would tell her to return them.  

“My parents are going to force me to return everything you bought me, Chloe.” -Sabrina told her.

“Oh, no they won’t, trust me.” -Chloe declared. –“I told you, they’re presents from me to you.”

“Maybe, and I thank you for all of them, but… my parents are going to think that I took advantage of you. Especially my mom. She has always taught me to never take advantage of other people, especially my friends”

“Advantage of other people? That’s a good one… Sabrina, you’re not taking advantage of me. You’re my best friend. It’s okay for me to give you a present, now and then.” -Chloe reassured her.

“Yes, but not presents that are this expensive, Chloe.” -Sabrina told her. She tried to convince her that giving her the silk scarf was already too much, but Chloe did not listen to her.

“Well, you can always tell your parents that I let you borrowed them for a time.” -Chloe told her, as she paid for the last things she had bought. –“That way, they can’t force you to return them.” -she said.  

After shopping, Sabrina took Chloe to eat a funnel cake, just like she had promised. It did not take long for them to find a stand selling them. All they had to do was to follow the delicious scent these emanated upon being made. Finding one, Sabrina quickly bought the delicious treats.

What the blonde liked so much about those cakes was that one could eat them simple, or covered in any kind of sweet sauce. Sabrina was fond of the ones with powdered sugar on them. Chloe, on the other hand, preferred hers covered in chocolate syrup or honey. At first, she was not a big fan of funnel cakes covered in honey, but since had been given the bee miraculous, that she had acquired a taste for the sweet golden liquid.

The redhead bought one with powdered sugar for her, and one covered in honey for Chloe. Looking for a place to eat the delicious treats in peace, they found the perfect one in a nearby garden. Sitting on one of the garden’s benches, they ate their funnel cakes in silence. It was only when they had already eaten half of them, that Sabrina decided to joke about how funny Chloe’s face looked, covered in honey.    

“You know, the way you’re eating, you almost look like a bear who hasn’t eaten any honey in months.” -Sabrina joked.

“Well, you look like someone hit you in the face with a bag of flour.” -Chloe joked, while eating another bite of the funnel cake. –“All in all we look like a couple of slobs.” -she joked, making Sabrina giggle.  

After that, there was a long silence. As she was about to finish her funnel cake, Sabrina noticed Chloe had stopped eating hers, while staring forward. Wondering what was going on, she decided to ask her if everything was alright. 

“Is there something wrong, Chloe?” -Sabrina asked  

“No… I was just thinking, that I only do this with you.” -Chloe answered her.

“What are you talking about?” -Sabrina asked, puzzled about that remark.

“This, going out, shopping, eating junk food, you know… No one else in our class knows that I like funnel cakes. Well, Adrien knows, but he knows me since we were little kids, so, he doesn’t really count.” -Chloe sighed.

Hearing her say that, Sabrina decided not to say word and let her talk. She could tell the blonde was trying to open something, and it was best for her to just let her talk and say what she had to say, without interruptions.  

“No one knows anything about me. They see me, but at the same time, they don’t. They know me, and who I was, but at the same time, they don’t know me, or who I was, or what I’m trying to be and not to be.” -Chloe sighed, as a tear ran down her cheek.

“I… I don’t know what to really say, Chloe.” -Sabrina declared.

“But I do… I created a wall between me and just about everyone else, while being the nastiest person one can be. I was a bully to everyone. I may not have hurt people physically, but I know I hurt their feelings, which is even worst.” -Chloe said. –“That’s why no one in our class really hangs out with me, other than you. I mean, sure they sometimes ask me if I want to do something and all, but I think they just ask me, because they… because they don’t want to feel bad about leaving me out of anything.” -she said, as another tear ran down her face. –“Deep down, they still see me as the bully I was. And they’ll probably keep seeing me like that, for the rest of ther lives, with or without my miraculous.” 

“You’re right. You were a bully.” -Sabrina said bluntly. –“But you used the past tense “I was”, not “I am”, Chloe. And you know why? Because you’re not that bully anymore.” -she said. –“I know I already told you this before, but, I’m going to tell it to you once more. You have changed, and it wasn’t because of the miraculous. You changed because you wanted to change… you wanted to become a person everyone wants to hang around, a person who’s not a bully. I know you, and I know that deep down, you have a good heart. You’re just afraid of showing it, because you had bad experiences, where you placed your whole heart into one thing, and it did not end well.” 

For as long as they knew each other, Chloe had always considered Sabrina a friend, who after a while, became her best-friend. But as the years went by, she began to see her more than just her best friend. She began to see Sabrina as her conscience, that little voice that told her what to do, and what not to do. Shedding a coupe of more tears, she hugged Sabrina, who hugged her back.  

“But, how do I really show that I’ve changed, Sabrina? I mean, I’ve been trying to show that I’ve changed, but nobody seems to notice it.”

“Maybe they have noticed it, and you just didn’t notice it that they have noticed it, because you keep doubting yourself.” -the redhead smiled. –“Or maybe, you just need to find a better way to show it, that’s all.” -she said. –“Next time one of our friends asks you, or invites you to do something, you say yes, and go without having second thoughts about it.”

“You really think that will work?” -Chloe asked her.

“Well, you’ll never know if you don’t…” -Sabrina declared, when a loud noise was heard. –“Hey, what was that sound?”

The sound in question was of an explosion, and it seemed like it had come from near them. Almost instantly, several car alarms sounded off, having been triggered by the explosion. A few seconds later, the girls saw a lot of smoke coming from one of the nearby streets, as well as people running. Whatever has blown up, it happened near them.

“Should we go and see what it is?” -Chloe asked Sabrina.

“It’s best. It may be the Collector” -Sabrina told her, as she dropped the rest of the funnel cake, and started to run. –“Although, I’m hoping it’s not the case.

Following Sabrina, Chloe also hoped the explosion had nothing to do with the man, if you could call him that, that was hunting them and the rest of the Miraculous Team. But this thought was quickly put aside, as they made the curve, and saw what was going on. In one of the buildings, something blew up. The people were saying that it had been a gas leak. The flames had begun to spread upwards, endangering the upper floors, as well as the people that were still inside the building. The speed with which the fire moved, it seemed like this one had a mind of its own. People kept exiting the building, while others just wanted to go in, screaming that they had to go back up to get something from their apartment, or that someone they cared about was trapped inside. These of course were stopped from going back in. The girls saw some people calling the firefighters, hoping that they would arrive in time. Suddenly, another explosion happened, this time from the second floor. Broken glass and fiery debris rained on the people that were nearer the building. Luckily, no one was hurt, but if another explosion happened, they might not be so lucky.

Seeing that, Chloe grabbed Sabrina by the wrist, and dragged her along, as she looked for a quiet place, where they could talk, without any preying eyes. When she did, they both stopped, and the blonde asked the redhead a question.

“Please, answer me this… do you have your miraculous with you?”

“Yes, I do, but you’re not seriously thinking of putting yours on, are you?” -Sabrina asked her, already knowing what she was thinking.

“We don’t have another choice, Sabrina. The firefighters are probably on their way, but I’m afraid that when they get here, the whole building will have turned into a pile of ashes.” -Chloe told her. –“Plus, we can’t risk the fire spreading to the nearby buildings. You saw just how those flames were moving. And unless it rains a flood in the next few minutes, when the firefighters get here, they’ll have wither a smoking pile of ashes, or a blazing inferno to fight.” -she added.

“Chloe… we can’t use our miraculouses. Remember what Marinette and Adrien said? We can’t let the Collector get another miraculous. It’s too risky.” -Sabrina warned her.

“I don’t care what the two of them said, Sabrina. The old me wouldn’t even care about this, but the new me cares, and I’m not going to just stand by, while people get hurt or the city burns to the ground.” -Chloe told her best friend. –“Putting our miraculouses and helping them is wrong and dangerous, and it goes against what we all agreed to do while the Collector is out there, but it’s the right thing to do, and you know it!”

“But what if the Collector shows up, while we’re helping? We can’t let him have our miraculouses.” -Sabrina stressed the issue.

“He won’t. We go in, we go fast, and as soon as everyone is safe and the fire is out, we get out of there, come back here and take off our miraculouses. It’ll be two or three minutes.” -Chloe declared. –“But if he does show up, we’ll fight him… we won’t fight to win, but we’ll fight to buy us some time to run. And before you say anyting, Kim was just one, we’re two, and we work well together.” -she said. –“Are you with me, or not?”

Sabrina did not answer her right away. She did not want to go against what Marinette and Adrien had told the whole team, especially after what happened to Kim. But at the same time, she knew Chloe was right. They could not stand by and not do anything, especially when the two of them had the power to stop that fire and rescue all those people. Looking the blonde in the eyes, she said:    

“You’re right. We have to help them. I’m with you.”   

“Okay, then let’s put on our miraculouses and be quick about this.” -Chloe said, as she looked for her. –“We need to hurry.” -she said, as she found it, and quickly put it on.

“Alright.” -Sabrina said, as she opened her backpack and grabbed her miraculous, putting it on.

As they put them on, a ball of light shot from both the miraculouses, which quickly turned into the bee and the wolf kwamis, Pollen and Mika. As the two of them opened their eyes, and were greeted by their holders, the kwamis could not be happier, but also intrigued, wondering if the menace of the Collector had ended or not.

“What’s going on?” -Mika asked.

“No time to explain, Mika. We have to transform.” -Sabrina answered him.

“We promise you that we’ll explain everything, some other time. But right now, we need you to lend us your powers, just for a little bit.” -Chloe told Pollen.

“Very well, I’m ready when you are, my queen.” -Pollen smiled at Chloe, who smiled back at her.

“Just say the magic words and let’s do this, kiddo!” -Mika winked at Sabrina.

“Pollen, transforme moi!” -Chloe exclaimed.

“Mika, transforme moi!” -Sabrina exclaimed.


	14. Queen Bee's Sacrifice

Saying those words, the girls quickly transformed into Queen Bee and Louve Grise. As their transformation ended, they both felt like their old selves, bustling with energy. Gone were the apathy, the exhaustion, the aching muscles. In a way, it all felt like the end of a great deprivation. It felt good to be wearing those outfits against their skin once more, along with their corresponding powers. Still, they knew did not have much time. The Colector could show up at any given moment, and the could not waste a single second. Knowing they had very little time, Queen Bee asked Louve Grise to place her arms around her weist and to hold on tight. The wolf heroine did so, after which, Queen Bee took off from the ground as fast as a rocket, up into the sky. Once they were high enough, the blonde dove, while telling her friend to prepare for a fast landing.

Down on the ground, people were watching the ghastly show, while waiting for the firefighters to show up. A nearby police patrol arrived at the scene, and the first thing they did was make sure that no one approached the burning building, while trying to calm down the mob that had concentrated on that street. As thesenoir officer tried his best to tell people to stand back, the other officer, upon seeing someone coming out of the building, quickly went to her rescue. Holding her in his arms, he quickly checked her for injuries she might have. Upon close inspection, she did not look like she had any burns, but she was coughing a lot, mostly because of the thick black smoke that kept coming from inside the burning building.

“Please, stand back! For your own safety, do not come any closer!” -the senior officer told the mob that was still gathering around burning building. Noticing an old woman trying to pass, he stopped her. –“Please, madam, I’m afraid I can’t let you pass.”

“But my Adéle is up there, I have to save her!”

“Adéle? Who is she, madam? Is she your grandaugther?”

“No, it’s my cat, officer! Please, let me through! I must save her!” -the old lady begged him.

“I’m sorry madam, but I can’t risk letting you in that building because of a pet. Try to understand.” -the officer told her, when he noticed his partner with the victim that gotten out of the building. He immediately asked him if everything was fine. -“Hey! Is she alright?”

“She seems okay, but it’s best if the paramedics take a look at her. How long until they arrive?!”

“According to dispatch, they’re four minutes away.” -he answered him. –“ _Though I don’t know if the building will last that long. The fire’s starting to get out of control._ ” -he thought to himself, as he saw the flames growing in size   

And then, they arrived. Flying over everyone’s head, Queen Bee and Louve Grise approached the ground, where they were greeted by those on the street, happy that they had showed up to help. Landing near the officers, they did not lose time with trivialities. Not only they had to hurry, because the Collector could show up at any minute, but also the fire was starting to run wild.   

“Is she alright?” -Louve Grise asked the officer, who was holding the victim.

“She’ll be fine.” -he answered her. –“Thank God you decided to show up.”

“Do you know if there’s anyone still in the building?” -Queen Bee asked the senior officer.

“We don’t know. But it’s possible that there are still some people inside.” -he answered. –“The firefighters are on their way, but they’re going to take a couple of more minutes to get here.” -he stated.

“My cat Adéle is still inside! You must save her! She’s on the fifth floor!” -the old lady declared. –“Please, she’s all I have in the world.”

“We’ll get her out, madam, I promise.” -Queen Bee declared, as she turned her attention back to the police officer. –“Look, my friend and I are going to try and take care of this, okay? Make sure nobody tries to enter the building, until the firefighters arrive.” -she said, to which he waved his head in compliance. –“Louve, let’s go!”

“What’s the plan?” -Louve asked her.

 “I’ll go inside and see if there’s still anyone in there, while you take care of the flames, okay?” -Queen Bee told her.

“Shouldn’t I go inside and you stay here? I can freeze the flames as I go.”

“No, I can fly, you can’t. It’s best if I take care of the inside, while you freeze these flames out here and make sure they don’t jump into the other buildings. Once you think the flames are under control, come and join me inside.” -Queen Bee told her partner, who agreed with her head. –“Let’s do this?”

“Go, I got your back!” -Louve Grise smiled at her.

As Queen Bee dashed inside the burning building, Louve Grise looked for the best way to use her powers. She knew that she had to put out the flames, before they spread to the surrounding buildings. Using her freeze breath, she began by putting out the flames that were then consuming the building’s front. Even with her ice powers, it was hard for her to extinguish the flames. When they were finally extinguished, she was almost breathless.

“ _Okay, I think these won’t cause any more trouble._ ” -the wolf heroine thought to herself, as she looked up. –“ _Now, I have to take care of the flames on the building’s rooftop. Better get a move on._ ”

Using the police car and one of the street lamps as a makeshift step ladder, she propelled herself to the rooftop, climbing the last two floors of the building’s front, being careful not to fall off, due to the damage the front had sustained from the flames. Once she reached the rooftop, she saw the flames were still very much alive there. She had just assessed the situation, when something blew up not far from her, throwing her into the ground. Hitting the ground, she was lucky she did not burn herself with the flames. Getting up, she looked to the place where the explosion occurred and what she saw scared and shocked her. Standing in one corner, surrounded by flames, were several barrels where it was written the words “Cooking Oil”

“Cooking oil?! Who in their right mind puts barrels filled with cooking oil on a rooftop?!” -Louve Grise asked out loud. –“I’ve got to make sure the rest doesn’t explode!”

Using her ice breath once again, she tried to make sure those barrels would not blow up, by encasing them in a thick layer of ice. Once she believed those barrels did not constitute a menace any longer, she focused on trying to find a way to put out the flames that kept spreading, in part thanks to the barrel that had exploded earlier. She herself asked how just one of the barrels had blown up, and not all of them, though she thanked that fact.  

Nervous because the Collector could show up, she knew she had to work faster. Looking around for something that could help her extinguish the flames, she saw what she needed to put out the flames on the rooftop, preventing them from burning the surrounding buildings, and with some luck, even put out the fire inside the floors below. Standing on the rooftop of the following building was a water tank. The plan was simple, break it using it her fans and let the water flow.

“Perfect! Let’s do this!” -Louve Grise smiled, as she threw both her fans at the water tank.      

* * *

At the same time, inside the building, Queen Been was facing a blazing inferno. She had already managed to get out two people who got trapped in their apartment two floors below, and was now moving towards the last two, where on the last one, she would find the cat from the old lady, who begged her to find her. Taking special care not to be hit by the flames, she once more began calling out to anyone who might be trapped inside one of the apartments in that floor. Looking around, she also hoped to find a fire extinguisher, but no such luck. On the other floors, she managed to get her hands on two, and had used them to put out some of the flames. As she did it, she found herself remembering the time she and the rest of Miss Bustier’s class visited a firehouse and learned how to work with an extinguisher. Back then, she felt that had been a waste of her time, because she did not have any ideas of becoming a firefighter or to ever work with an extinguisher. But now, she was glad she had learned to do it. Once more, it proved that one never knows what tomorrow holds.   

“Is anyone there! Call out!” -Queen Bee yelled, just before she used her special power to shrink down to the size of a nickle, allowing her to pass some flames, without burning herself. Once she passed the flames, she returned ot her regular size. –“If there’s someone here, call out!”

“H-Help!” -a voice was heard.

The voice kept calling out for help. It sounded like the voice of a woman, and it was coming from one of the apartments in that floor. Focusing, the bee heroine tried her best to figure out which direction her voice was coming from. After a couple of seconds, she figured it was coming from her right. Using her trompo like a cutting shield, she opened a hole on the wall, hoping this would lead her to the person calling for help. Kicking it, she then entered the hole, and held her breath, so as to not breathe the thick black smoke coming from it.

“Is anyone here?!” -Queen Bee called out once again. The smoke was too thick for her to see anything, so she had to rely mostly on her ears.

“H-Here! I’m here!” -the voice called out.

“Keep shouting, I’m c-coming!” -Queen Bee coughed, as she moved in the voice’s direction, while bumping into something that she felt was a couch.

A few seconds later, she found the person who was shouting for help. It was a young woman in her late 20’s, who was trapped under a bookcase, which must have fallen on her when one of the explosions occurred. Kneeling by her side, the bee heroine tried to see if she was hurt or not.

“A-Are you okay? Can you move your legs?” -Queen Bee asked her.

“Y-Yes… it’s the bookcase… it’s too heavy.” -the young woman said, as she recognized the heroine. –“W-Wait, you’re Queen Bee, aren’t you?”

“Yes, and don’t worry, I’m going to get you out of here.” -Queen Bee answered, as she readied herself to lift the bookcase. –“What’s your name?” -she asked her.

“L-Lydia…” -she coughed

“Lydia, that’s a great name. Is there anyone else here, with you?” -she asked, as she lift the bookcase with relative ease, releasing the woman.

“N-No, I live alone.” -the woman said. As she tried to get up, she let out of a painful scream, wrapping her hands around her right ankle. –“M-My ankle… it hurts…” -she gritted her teeth in pain.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll carry you… out of here.” -Queen Bee coughed, as she looked for a way out of there. The smoke was starting to get thicker by the minute, and she feared that the hallway would be even worse. Using her trompo, she threw it against a window nearby, breaking it. Doing this, not only let some of the smoke out, but also let some sunlight in, allowing her to see better where she stepped in. Carefully grabbing the young woman, telling her to wrap her arms around her neck, she made her way towards the now broken window. –“Do you know if there’s anyone else who might be trapped in this floor? Someone old, or someone who has children?” -she asked

“N-No, most apartments in this floor are empty. Besides me, there’s only an elderly couple who lives on this floor, but they’re currently on vacation in Nice. They even gave me the key to their house, and asked me to water their plants, while they were out of town.” -she commented with the heroine.

“O-Okay, hold on tight. We’re going to jump.” -Queen Bee told her, when she saw water coming down. She figured that had to be Louve’s doing.

After she said those words, Queen Bee flew out the window, carrying the young woman to safety. Lydia herself, who was afraid of heights, closed her eyes as hard as she could, with the intention of opening them, only when they were on the ground. The bee heroine quickly turned her head to see what her partner had done. By using the water tank, and then her ice powers, she put out the flames on the rooftop and on the last floor.

“ _Brilliant, Sabrina! Just brilliant._ ” -Queen Bee thought to herself.  

Reaching the ground, she quickly handed Lydia to theparamedics, who had just arrived. The firefighters were also arriving, and with them, the means to fight the fire. Though Queen Bee and Louve Grise had done most of the hard work, there were still flames roaming inside the building. Looking at the crowd, she noticed that as always, people did not lose anytime snapping photos of the action in their cell phones. Photos of her and Louve were by then already online, and that scared her. She did not know how the Collector operated; if he knew how to access the Internet or not, if he paid attention to the 

“ _Now, I’ve got to go back up there and get that lady’s cat._ ” -Queen bee thought to herself.

She was about to hit the sky once more, when she noticed Louve coming down herself, holding something on her right hand. At first, she could not make it what it was, but as she got closer to the ground, she saw that it was a grey Persian cat with a beautiful yellow collar.

“Found this little one upstairs, while checking the floor for anyone trapped.” -Louve Grise smiled, as she gently stroked the feline’s head, making her let out a meow.

“Adéle! Oh, my sweet, sweet Adéle!” -the old lady, who had asked Queen Bee to find her cat, said, when she saw her on Louve’s arms. –“Oh, thank you both, for saving my little darling.” -she said, as a couple of tears ran down her face.

“It was nothing, madam.” -Louve Grise said, as she walked to her and handed her the cat.

As she did that, the chief from the firefighters approached Queen Bee. At first, the bee heroine did not recognize him, because of the firefighter equipment he had on, but after a couple of seconds, she recognized his face from one of the numerous charity events she had attended over the years with her dad. Smiling at him, she wondered what he was going to say to her.

“The officers over there said that you helped out putting out the fire and rescue those people.” -the chief said. –“I just wanted to thank you and your friend. If you weren’t in the neighbourhood, those three vistims over there might have not make it.” -he pointed out to the three people she had rescued, and were now receiving care from the paramedics. –“Also, great idea using the water tank to try and put out most of the flames.”    

“Thank you.” -Louve Grise thanked the chief, as she joined them, having left the old lady to take care of her cat. 

“Oh, it was nothing. We just happened to be at the right place, at the right time.” -Queen Bee said, as she noticed a group of firefighters readying to enter in the building with a firehouse. –“Oh, you better tell your men that the fire on the first and second floor has been taken care of, but that on the third floor the fire was still very much alive.” -she warned him.

“Oh, and when they reach the rooftop, they might want to use their axes to open the door that leads there.” -Louuve Grise declared. –“I had to use my ice powers up there, and well, there are also a couple of barrels filled with cooking oil, but they are under a thick layer of ice now, so they shouldn’t give your men any problem.” -she warned him.

“Thanks for the warning.” -the chief said, as he picked up the radio on his vest and passed that information to his men. –“By the way, my men and I were wondering if we could, you know, pay you girls something? Maybe a soda or something? It’s the very least we can do for the heroines who helped out.” -he declared.

Usually, neither one of them would refuse such an offer. But on that day, they could not risk it, even if that meant refusing an invitation from Paris’ finest.

“Sorry, but we’ve got to go.” -Louve Grise said. –“Maybe next time.”

“Indeed. We must get going.” -Queen Bee.

“Alright. Take care now. And once again, thanks for the help!” -the chief said, as Bee grabbed Louve and flew out of there.

The worst part was over, or so they thought. They were able to put out the fire and save those who had the unfortunate luck of ending up trapped in the burning building, without a hitch. On top of that they had been thanked by the chief of the firefighters who had been called, for helping putting out the fire. All in all, it had been a different experience for them. The two of them in their patrols had stopped robberies, prevented car accidents and even helped saving innocent cats from trees, but this was the first time they helped put out a fire. Still, they were not out of the hook just yet. They still had to turn back to normal and take out their miraculouses, before the Collector showed up. And right then, the two friends were becoming a little paranoid, afraid that he could show at any second.

“Where to?” -Louve Grise asked.

“We can’t go back to the alley where we transformed. There are a lot of watchful eyes around it now. We’ll have to find a place that is secluded enough to turn back to normal and take off our miraculouses, without being seen, and fast.” -Queen Bee said. –“Maybe I can descend over Parc Monceau. There are a lot of hidden places there, where we can change back, without anyone noticing us.” -she suggested. –“Still, I might have to call Jean Jacques to come and get us, because you’re not getting me in the subway again today. Just the thought of feeling like a canned sardine…”

“Sounds like a plan to me.” -Louve Grise smiled. –“Take us there and… watch out, Chloe!”

Louve Grise hardly had the time to warn Queen Bee, when a fireball came out of nowhere, and almost hit them. The bee heroine quickly tried to see where it had come from, only to see another one coming their direction. She tried to evade it, only this one came a lot faster, and almost grazed her head. The heat from it, forced her to let go of Louve, to protect her face. Being let go, Louve Grise screamed. Hearing her out, Queen Bee dove as fast as lightning and caught her. Looking her in the eyes, she could see just how afraid she was.

“Are you okay, Sabrina?” -Queen Bee asked her.

“I-I am… but p-please, don’t do that again, Chloe!” -Louve begged her, her heart still racing. -Look out, here comes another one!” -she warned her.

Like she said, another fireball came out of nowhere, almost hitting them. No matter how much they looked, they could not see where those were coming from. They knew that had to be the work of either an akuma villain, or the Collector. Angry because she could not see who or what was attacking them, the bee heroine decided she did not want to be left in the dark like that. 

“Alright, loser, show yourself!” -Queen Bee shouted, hoping for a reveal. Whether it was the Collector or one of Hawk Moth’s cronies, she had to know.

“Chloe, just forget it and run! Get us out of here!” -Louve Grise begged her.  

Louve Grise had just finished talking, when out of the blue, an armoured figure appeared about 25 meters from ehere she and Queen Bee were. Brandishing his double-sword, was the Collector, looking at them with his glowing red piercing eyes.

“I guess we weren’t fast enough, Chloe.” -Louve Grise whispered to Queen Bee.

“Guess not, Sabrina.” -Queen Bee whispered back at her friend. –“Let’s give him a demonstration of our powers and then, we outrun him! Let’s get him with our special technique.” -she said.

Putting their game face on, the girls knew exactly what they had to do to get out of there, while leaving the Collector wondering what hit him in the first place. The plan was simple… “Operation Blizzard Storm”, a fighting combo technique they had come up white, while training, which combined both their powers. It all consisted in Queen Bee summoning a tornado, while Louve Grise blew her ice breath inside it, thus, creating a powerful blizzard, which froze any enemy that stood in its way.

Launching her trompo, the bee heroine created a small tornado, which began to grow in size, until it was bigger than an Airbus, in a matter of seconds. Usually, size was a bit of a concern, because neither one fo them wanted to destroy property or hurt any passerby with that technique; but not in this case. At that height, there was nothing that could be smashed or hurt, except their enemy. As the tornado grew in size and speed, Louve Grise used her ice breath on it. Every little particle of water inside it became frozen almost instantly. When they felt that they had everything they needed to face the Collector, Queen Bee fired the tornado against him, hitting him in the face. What made this technique so unique, was that it combined the unpredictability of ice and the wind speed, which turned even the slightest bit of ice in a dangerous projectile. They were both thinking the Collector would try to evade from it, but he just stood where he was, taking the full of the attack.

“Hang on tight!” -Queen Bee told Louve Grise, who tightened her grip around the blonde’s body.

Diving towards the ground, Queen Bee was hoping she was fast enough to outrun the Collector, who by now was trying to get out of that blizzard storm she and Louve Grise had created. Holding her breath, she found herself praying that she and the wolf herone were able to get out of that situation in one piece. Louve Grise herself also thinking the same, as she tightened her grip around her friend’s waist.     

“Guess that takes care of him.”

“Y-Yes… oh no, look!” -Louve Grise yelled, after she saw the Collector in front of them, forcing Queen Bee to stop their descent. Standing there, floating, his whole body was covered in icicles, which he merely shook off. The heroines could not believe their eyes. 

“Your miraculouses… give them to me…” -the Collector told them.

“In your dreams, idiot!” -Queen Bee exclaimed, still wondering how could he have escaped Operation: Blizzard Storm, when the attack was powerful enough to reduce enemies and large objects to shrapnel. –“I don’t know how you managed to get away from that combined attack, but you’re not getting my miraculous or hers, you hear me?” -she warned him, with a defiant look in her eyes, when the Collector disappeared in front of her eyes and Louve Grise’s. –“W-Where did he go?!” 

“Behind you…” -the Collector said, spooking her. The scare was so great that she almost dropped Louve Grise again.

“What the…?!” -Queen Bee exclaimed, after seeing the Collector behind her, and turning around to face him. She did not understand how could he be so fast. –“How did you do that?!” -she asked him, with her heart still beating like crazy. 

“Foolish child. I am what you and your friends would become, if you trained and perfected your powers for a thousand years.” -the Collector told her in a calm and paused voice. –“Your miraculouses and their powers are wasted on you, when they could be used by me to ensure that justice and righteousness is upheld around the world.” -he went on. –“I will ask you once again… give me your miraculouses, now. Don’t try to fight me, or you’ll end up just like your friend who possessed the antelope miraculous.” 

Upon hearing him, Louve Grise decided that she had heard enough. Using her ice breath, she froze the Collector’s face almost instantly. Queen Bee seeing this, decided not to waste a single second, and dove once again.

“We’ve got to shake him!”

“Don’t worry, we will. Just trust me, and when I say let go, you let go!” -Queen Bee told Louve Grise, who looked at her with a worried look in her eyes. –“Don’t worry, I’ll catch you. Just trust me, okay?” -she said, after which the wolf heroine nodded her head.  

The bee heroine was not as fast as Dragonfly, who could fly at a supersonic speed. But then, she did not need it. All she needed was to get a good distance between her and the Collector. He was clearly faster than she was, but maybe she could try and create something that would keep him busy for them to get away.

“Okay, I’m going to let you go now, Sabrina.” -Queen Bee warned the redhead. –“Just close your eyes shut, so you won’t be afraid of the height.” -she said, as she let go of her friend, who yelped.  

With her hands free, Queen Bee looked up and saw the Collector diving towards her. Knowing it would be a matter of seconds before he reached her, she focused on putting the plan she came up in her mind a few seconds before. Throwing her trompo as far as she could, this one described a perfect elipse, while creating several small twisters, before returning to her hand. The tornados she created began to grow in size, blowing wind from several different directions, and just she had anticipated, the Collector was caught right in the middle of them

“You might have been able to escape the Blizzard Storm, but let’s see if you can escape this!” -Queen Bee smiled triumphantly, as she saw the Collector getting caught in her trap.

With no time to lose, and knowing that with each passing second Louve Grise got closer to the ground, Queen Bee dove once again. Looking for her friend, it took her about two seconds to find her. She had spread her arms and legs to slow down her descent, buying herself and Queen Bee a little more time. And just like the bee heroine had told her, she shut her eyes, while falling. A part of her wanted to open them, to see just how close to the ground she was, but another part told her to not do it, afraid that she might faint. Breathing in and out, she kept telling herself that Queen Bee would catch her. Still, with her eyes closed, her sense of time meant nothing, as the seconds looked more like minutes to her. Plus, she could only imagine what was going on between Queen Bee and the Collector.

“ _She can handle herself, don’t worry._ ” -Louve Grise though to herself, when she felt a pair of arms grabbing her. At first, she resisted, thinking that it might be the Collector trying to grab her. But then, she recognized the smooth touch of Queen Bee’s outfit and allowed herself to be caught.          

Grabbing Louve Grise by the waist, Queen Bee pulled her up, letting out a “Got you!”, which signalled the wolf heroine to open her eyes. When she opened her eyes, she saw that they were maybe 200 meters from the ground. Seeing that, she could not help but to feel lucky her friend did not take longer to get her.

“Cutting it a little close, arent’ we?” -Louve Grise commented. 

“Just a little.” -Queen Bee smiled to her.

“What did you to him?” -Louve Grise asked her, curious to know how she had dealt with the Collector. 

“Let’s just say that he won’t be coming after hers because of a windy situation.” -Queen Bee answered her. –“And we better get down there and take these off. I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel like going up against him one more time, if I can avoid it.” -she said

“Agreed.”

But once more, their path was cut. Once more, the Collector demonstrated his incredible powers, by appearing in front of the two heroines. Once more, he had managed to escape one of the heroines’ attempts to prevent him from following them. And once more, Queen Bee and Louve Grise saw themselves in trouble.    

“It seems that like when I took your friend’s miraculous, I’ll have to make use of my powers to deal with you as well.” -the Collector said, this time, in an annoyed tone.

Raising his left arm, he appealed to the powers of the dog miraculous, which granted him the ability to use telekinesis. Using such power, eh immobilized both heroines. Having them at his mercy, all he had to do was to take their miraculouses and that would be the end of it. But he felt that he had to show them why they and the reminainng miraculous holders should fear him. And so, he decided to extend the time he was going to take to deal with them. Queen Bee and Louve Grise tried to break free from the villain’s grasp, but it was useless. No matter how much they struggled, the Collector had them at his mercy.

Performing a swift move with his left hand, he launched the girls towards the ground, which they hit with an incredible strength. Luckily, they landed in a park, which was under remodelling, and thus, inaccessible to the public. If not, someone might have gotten hurt, when they hit the ground. The impact quickly alerted near bystanders that something was going on. Most thought that it had been a gas explosion, but those who were lucky enough to see the heroines falling down to Earth, knew what really happened, and were quick to alert the media by either calling the numerous television channels, or by simply posting it on the social medial. When the dust settled, the girls saw themselves in a crater with at least five meters deep. They were a bit dizzy from the impact, as well as hurt. Still, they managed to get back on their feet in a matter of seconds. Louve Grise helped Queen Bee getting back up, while also dusting off the dirt she was covered in.

“That was quite the fall.” -Louve Grise said, while duting the dirt, and rubbing her right elbow, which she landed on. She knew she would be sore in the morning.

“I think I might have broken something.” -Queen Bee said, as she placed her hand over the right side of her ribcage. –“O-Ouch… I just hope it’s only hurt, and not broken. The last thing I need is a broken rib.” -she said.

“We’ll worry about that later. Right now, we’ve got to get out of here, before…”

“Before, what?”

Standing at the ledge of the crater was the Collector, staring at them. They knew he was fast, but he was moving at an almost unimaginable speed, even for them. He did not move from where he stood, and allowed the two heroines to quicly get out of the crater, almost as if he as granting them a small break, or waiting for them to make some mistake. Usually, they would distrust and question why a villain would do that, but the panic was beginning to settle inside them, clouding their ideas.

“S-So, what are you waiting for?!” –Queen Bee asked the Collector. –“I thought you wouldn’t be the kind of person to play with your food before eating it.”

“Do not think that I take pleasure in doing this.” -the Collector declared in an almost solemn voice. –“If you just gave me your miraculouses, and perhaps, tell me where the others are, I would not have to do this. But I do have a mission, and no matter what, I must fulfil it.” -he declared.

“We’re not giving you our miraculouses, or telling you where the others might be!” -Louve Grise declared, as her eyes looked around, looking for a way out of there that would grant her and Queen Bee enough to time to hide from the Collector. Unfortunately, there did not seem a way, that would not put innocent civillians at risk.

“Then, you leave me no other choice.” -the Collector said. –“I’ll just have to take your miraculouses and the information on where to find the others, by force.” -he said.

Snapping his fingers, he invoked the powers of the dragon miraculous and made appearthe very same fire dragon with which he had attacked Kim before. The flaming beast glared at the two heroines for a couple of seconds, just before charging at them. Evading its first charge, the heroines readied themselves for the next one, knowing that that creature wanted to turn them into charcoal. And like that, the dragon attacked, breathing fire on them. Louve Grise used her icy breath to counterattack it, while Queen Bee spun her trompo and used it as a shield to deflect the flames. These were as hot as Hell itself, but the two of them did not flinch or showed any sign of weakness.

“ _It’s so hot…_ ” -Queen Bee thought to herself.

Seeing them fending off against his flaming dragon with relative ease, the Collector decided to once again make use of his various powers, in order to defeat them. Making the dragon diappear, he once more he invoked the power of the dog miraculous and used his telekinetic powers on the two of them, paralyzing them in place. He figured that if one rough landing had not been enough to break them, then perhaps a second one would do the trick. Without being able to move, the heroines readied themselves for whatever the villain had planned for them.       

“ _Here we go again._ ” -Louve Grise thought to herself.

She had not yet finished that thought, when they were propelled into the air at an amazing speed. They stopped in midair for about two seconds, just before dropping down back to earth. One could almost describe the whole thing like when a person rides a roller coaster. The heroines believed they were going to land on the exact same spot they did before. But this did not happen. Instead, they landed on a nearby abandoned building. Going through the six floors the building had, they stopped when they reached the first. The landing was rougher than the first one, and to make matters worst, the amount of rubble that fell on them, pinned them down against the floor. Being squashed by the debris and with their bodies battered, most would say that they were as good as goners. And the truth was that on normal circumstances, they would most likely let themselves stay where they were, waiting for one of their friends to come and help them, before returning to battle. But this was not one of those times, and they both had to use all of their strengths just to not pass out. Coughing due to the amount of dust in the air, Queen Bee asked her friend if she was alright.       

“O-Ouch… Sabrina, are you okay? Sabrina? Sabrina, where are you?”    

Louve Grise did not answer right away, and Queen Bee feared the worst. It was only when she heard her coughing, that she knew she was there with her, and was still alive. Though the pain she was in was almost unbearable, the feeling of relief from knowing her best friend was still alive, helped to ease the pain a little.

“I-I’m here, C-Chloe…” -Louve Grise coughed. Because of the rubble, they could not see each other, but could still hear one another. –“I’m o-okay… a-and you? H-How are you?”

“I-I feel like… I-I t-think I feel like a bug, when h-he gets squashed…” -Queen Bee said.

“I-I’m not that g-good either. D-Do you think he knows where we landed?” -Louve Grise asked the bee heroine, while trying to push a large and heavy piece of debris, which was then crushing her chest.

“D-Don’t know… but we’ve got to… we’ve got yo get out of here.” -Queen Bee said, as she tried to move. As she did it, the rubble on top of her shifted slightly. She felt like crap, but she knew she had to move; otherwise, the Collector would get her.  

Panting heavily, she tried to remove the rubble from to top of her, which proved to be quite the challenge for her exhausted body. As she did it, she heard something crumble, not far from where they were. Along with that sound, was also the sound of footsteps, approaching. And then, the wall to her left exploded, to reveal the Collector, who once more used his powers, this time, to lift the debris from the girls. Tossing them aside, he made his way to Queen Bee, ignoring Louve Grise. The bee heroine tried to throw her trompo at him, but her right arm did not obey. Grabbing her, he held her in the air by the throat, while looking into her eyes. Her eyes were filled fear, a feeling he was used to see in the eyes of those he deemed guilty of any sort of crime. He was usually satisfied to see his victims with fear in their eyes, but not in this case. He took no pleasure from seeing fear in Queen Bee’s eyes, mostly because he  

“As I said before, I take no pleasre in doing this. But you leave me no choice, by resisting.” -the Collector said. –“So, let me ask you once again… will you give me your miraculous willingly, or will I have to take it from you by force?”

“Go s-suck a l-lemon, buster!” -Queen Bee said, as she spat on the Collector’s face, as he tightened his grip around her neck. She was scared, but more importantly, she was also boiling mad, because she felt powerless.

“Very well… I guess, I’ll just have to take it from your cold dead body. And after I do it, I’ll take care of your friend and beat the location of the remaining miraculouses from her, before I finish her as well.” -the Collector told her, as he raised his sword, readying himself for the kill, when he felt something hitting him on the shoulder. Looking to the side, he was a little surprised by what he saw.

Standing on her feet was Louve Grise, glaring at the Collector. Panting hard, she herself did not know how she had managed to get up on her feet, or how she still had the strength to do it, but she did not care. All she cared was to find a way to take down the Collector, and save Queen Bee, who right then needed her help. Brandishing her fans, she was ready to go one-on-one against him, the same way a momma bear attacks an intruder, when feeling her cubs are in danger.  

“Let her go, you monster!” -Louve Grise yelled at the Collector. –“Either you release her, or else…”

“Or else what?” -the Collector asked her. He could see the rage and the determination in her eyes, but he knew she was not a match for him.

“Or else you’re going to find out what happens when you mess with a wolf!” -Louve Grise growled at him. –“Let her go, now!”

Using her fans, she fired a gust of icicles against the Collector, hitting him in the eyes, which made him roar in pain, and forced him to release Queen Bee, who fell on the ground. Knowing that he had to power to regenerate, the wolf heroine lost no time in attacking. Swishing her fans as fast as her hands and arms allowed her to, she described elliptical moves, while strucking the Collector’s armour, over and over.

Right then, she believed that the rage that was fuelling her, was strong enough to allow her to take down the villain just by herself. Delivering a couple of blows to the Collector’s head, she thought that she was getting the upper hand in that fight. But it was only a matter of seconds, before she realized that that was not going to happen. Halting her, by grabbing both fans with his bare hands, he forced her to let go of them, just before grabbing her by the left arm and then throwing her towards the nearest wall. Upon impact, she gritted her teeth, because of the pain caused by the impact, just before dropping on the ground.       

“Wait your turn… as soon as I deal with your friend, I will handle you.” -the Collector declared with a calm voice.

“Y-You’re not going to deal with no one today, you overgrown suit of armour!” -Louve Grise exclaimed, as she made her fans fly back to her. –“Not if I-I have anything to say about it!”

Panting hard, she once again charged against the Collector, ready to beat him to a pulp. Growing tired of her attempts to defeat him, the Collector quickly made his double-sword disappear, leaving his hands free, as he summoned the power of the ox miraculous, which not only made him double in size, but also granted him superhuman strength. At first, he tried to crush Louve Grise, but this proved to be a little more difficult than he anticipated. Due to his larger size and Louve’s agility, the wolf heroine managed to anticipate his moves, while throwing everything she had against him. Still, it was only a matter of time, until the Collector got used to his new size and managed to grab her. Louve Grise tried to fight back, but once he got his hands around her neck, it was over. Feeling his metallic ganutlet around her neck, she expected for him to snap it like a twig. But he did not do it. Instead, he threw her against the same wall he did before. Once more on the ground, it took her a couple of seconds get back on her feet.  

“That… is quite enough.” -the Collector said. –“Stay where you are, or else, I’ll have to use more drastic and permanent means to deal with you.” -he warned her, as he saw the wolf heroine forcing herself to rise from the ground.

“Not now, not ever!!!” -Louve Grise yelled at him. –“As long as I breathe, I won’t allow you to hurt my friend or take her miraculous or mine, you hear me?!” -she kept yelling at the Collector, hoping to get him away from Queen Bee, who remained on the ground, mortionless.

Tired of such bravado and of her sentiment-filled speeches, the Collector decided it was time to put an end to that. He had planned to kill Queen Bee and use her death to send a message to the other miraculous holders, on the fate that awaited them, while torturing Louve Grise, for her to give him the location of the remaining miraculouses. But, in the end, he did not care which one of them died, and which one was tortured. ´

“Then, you leave me no other choice.” -the Collector declared with a grim voice.

Seeing her charging against him, he made use of the powers of the dragon miraculous and conjured a fireball, throwing it at Louve Grise, who was taken by surprise. Seeing the dangerous fireball heading towards her, Louve Grise froze in place. Somehow, someway, her body stopped reacting. She tried to move, but her body did not obey her. As the fireball got closer, she knew that in a matter of seconds, she was going to be one burnt heroine.   

“Move out of the way!!!” -a voice yelled at Louve Grise, while pushing her out of the fireball’s way. And the one who did both things was none other than Queen Bee, who had somehow managed to wake up, just in time to save her friend’s life.  

The explosion was quite big, making the whole building shake for a couple of seconds, demonstrating just how powerful the Collector had made that fireball. He truly wanted to turn Louve Grise into charcoal. And while Louve Grise was only knocked by wave of the fireball’s explosion, Queen Bee took the full impact from the fireball, becoming unconscious and falling on the ground. The wolf heroine did not expect her friend to come to her rescue like that. She had placed herself in mortal danger to save her. The wolf heroine tried to get back up, so as to help the blonde out, but the explosion left her both dizzy, with her head spinning. At the same time, Queen Bee laid on the floor, unconscious, and if it was not for the shallow breathing, one would dare to speculate that she was dead. Aproaching her, the Collector could not help but to feel surprised by what had happened.   

“Foolish child…” -the Collector said, as he grabbed Queen Bee by the neck. –“If you thought you could save your friend, I’m afraid you just wasted your energy.” -he said, as he touched the bee miraculous, forcing Queen Bee to revert back to Chloe Bourgeois.

Picking the bee miraculous from Chloe’s hair, he performed the same trick, and saying the very same enchantment words, as he did with the antelope miraculous, turning it into a golden rectangle with the bee miraculous symbol carved on it, which he did not lose time in placing it in his belt, where the other golden rectangle, which had once been the antelope miraculous, was.

“And with that… it makes two.” -the Collector said, as he noticed the blonde was beginning to regain consciousness. –“Now that I have your miraculous, you serve me no purpose. I’ll finish you and then, I will take your friend’s miraculous as well, after which I will get the locations of the remaining miraculouses from her, before I kill her. As for you, you’ll be lucky, because you won’t have to see your friend die.” -he said. –“But because you were such a fierce fighter, I will give you a warrior’s end, and make it as painless as possible…”

“Freeze, idiot!” -Louve Grise yelled.

Putting every bit of strength, she still had in her, Louvr Grise used her ice breath on the Collector to freeze him. This caught him by surprise, who did not expect her to already be back on her feet that soon. Louve’s ice breath attack was usually used just to cool down enemies, weaken structures or elemental attacks from enemies, but when she wanted to, she could freeze anything she wanted in a thick layer of ice. She had been practicing this attack for the past two months, and was now able to freeze an object unde 8 inches of ice. For the Collector, she wanted to make sure he was frozen solid under at least 14 inches of ice. In a matter of seconds, the armoured fiend turned into an ice sculpture, with only part of his right hand, which was holding Chloe in the air, out. Knowing he had the power to get out of that ice cocoon she encased him in, the wolf heroine grabbed the blonde, placed her over he shoulder, and did not look back. She just wanted to get out of there, though that might be easier said than done. They were in an abandoned building, with no way to know which way was out, and the rooms all looked the same. The only thing that changed were the trash that was on the floor and the broken pieces of furniture that were just laying around. Focusing, the redhead trusted her instincts and forced her way through a couple of doors, hoping that they would eventually lead her outside. Seconds looked like hours to her, and her heart was racing like crazy, afraid that the Collector would break free and come after them. Finally, she found a door which looked like it could lead outside. Breaking it, she found herself in a back alley, like so many back alleys in Paris.

“ _Alright, we’re outside… now what?_ ” -Louve Grise thought to herself, as she looked around. It was then, that she heard a loud sound which startled her. The sound could be described as an almost animalistic grunt, mixed with a human scream.

There was no mistake about it. That had to be the Collector, who had managed to break free. Louve had to disappear, before he arrived, but she could not leave Chloe behind; she would never do that. If she could fly, she could maybe try and find a place on top of one of the buildings to turn back to normal and hide. But she could not fly. Looking around, she saw a garbage bin. Running towards it, she opened to see that this one was almost full and that stench coming from it was anything but pleasant. Quickly, she threw Chloe inside and turned back to normal, after which she took off her miraculous, not even giving her poor kwami, Mika, the time to understand what was going on. With this done, she jumped inside the garbage bin, closing it. If the stench felt bad outside of the bin, then on the inside, it was even worst. Controlling her breath, she tried not to think about the stench, while listening to what was going outside. She heard the Collector bursting through the door from which she and Chloe and come from a few seconds before. She knew the villain could not sense their energy when not wearing their miraculouses, but that did not stop her heart from racing like crazy. Fear was a powerful thing, and right then, it was running through Sabrina’s veins like a poison, clouding her mind, and making her think crazy things.  

“ _Please, just go away, please, just go away, pleae…_ ” -Sabrina kept repeating that sentence in her mind, hoping the Collector would just go away.

But that did not happen. Instead of going away, after not seeing the two girls, the Collector decided to take his time, making sure they were not hiding there. Seeing the garbage bin, he thought that would be a nice hiding spot. Hearing him getting close, and fuelled by fear, Sabrina tried her best to cover Chloe and herself with trash bags inside that garbage bin, hoping that would be enough to hide them from the Collector’s preaying eyes. Listening to the rummage sounds, the Collector figured they were hidden inside. As he was about to open the garbage bin, Sabrina’s blood froze in her veins.


	15. A Friend In Need Is a Friend Indeed

The rummage sounds coming from the garbage bin alerted the Collector to someone inside it. He had caught the bee miraculous, but not the wolf miraculous. Still, he believed its holder, along with the former holder of the bee miraculous had not gone far, and that garbage bin was the perfect place to hide. Inside, Sabrina and nearly unconscious Chloe were hiding, with the redhead silently praying to herself, wishing that the villain would just walk away. But this was not going to happen. He had heard her moving inside the garbage bin, and was now going to open the lid and see her and the blonde, trying to hide from him. But, as fate would happen, as he grabbed the lid, something moved behind the garbage bin, knocking down a couple of old cans. Coming out from behind it, a stray cat let out a feral meow at the Collector, before running away. 

“Just a cat.” –the Collector said, assuming that was what he had heard.

Never in her life had Sabrina been so grateful to an animal like in that moment. That cat had saved her life and Chloe’s life. Still, her heart did not stopped racing, until she heard the Collector walking away. Too scared to even lift the lid just enough to see what was going on, she remained in silence inside the garbage bin for what looked like hours. After nearly five minutes inside it, the stench started to become a little less nauseous, although in no way it became more bearable. Finally, she decided to see if he was still around. Taking special care, she lifted the lid just enough to look outside, without risking being seen. Not seeing or hearing the Collector, she opened the lid and let the fresh air in, allowing her to breathe something else than the stale, putrid and disgusting smell of garbage. She had been so scared of getting caught, that she overlooked Chloe, who was by her side. She looked like she had been used like a punching bag. She was not bleeding or anything, but Sabrina knew that that explosion had hurt her. Removing the garbage, she had placed on top of her, to try and hide her, the redhead then called her, so as to keep her conscious.  

“Chloe? Chloe, please answer me.” -Sabrina asked her. 

“S-S-Sabrina?” -Chloe answered her; her voice sounding almost like a whisper.

“It’s me, Chloe.” -Sabrina smiled at her.

“C-Colector…” -Chloe said.

“He’s gone. We managed to gave him the slip.” –Sabrina declared, with a happy smile on her face, though there was not much to be happy about right then.

“M-My m-miraculous…” -the blonde whispered in a tearful voice.

“He got it, I know. But don’t worry, Chloe. Everything is going to be alright.” -Sabrina assured her. –“Tell me, how are you feeling? Did you break anything?”

“M-My right arm… I-I think it’s b-broken…” -Chloe said, as a tear ran down her face.

Sabrina quickly examined Chloe’s arm. She had learned from her dad how to spot for any injuries, when she was younger and he took her camping. It did not take long for her to see that the blonde’s arm was broken, just above the elbow. The area was all red and swollen, and the slightest touch to it sent the blonde into screaming with pain.  

“You’re right, it’s broken.” -Sabrina told her. –“We need to get you to the hospital.”

“N-No… no hospital, please.” -Chloe said. –“W-We won’t be a-able to…”

“We won’t be able to explain what happened… you’re right.” -Sabrina finished her friend’s sentence. –“ _They’re going to ask us questions about what happened, and we won’t be able to answer them. At least, not without lying about it, and that could get us into even bigger trouble._ ” -she thought to herself.

“Plus… it’ll… g-get you into trouble with y-your p-parents.” -Chloe told her. She did not want Sabrina to get into trouble because of her.  

“That’s the least of our problems. You’re hurt, Chloe. We need to get you some help.” -Sabrina insisted. Right then, she did not care if she would get in trouble or not. All she wanted was to make sure her friend ended up alright. –“I know, I’ll call Master Fu and ask him to come here… I just wish I knew where we are.” -she said. –“Stay here, and don’t move. I’m going to see where did we end up and call him.”

“O-Okay.”-Chloe said, as she tried not to move. The pain she was in was killing her.

Grabbing her cell phone form her backpack, Sabrina then jumped from inside the garbage bin, and went to see where in the city had they landed. As she walked, she noticed just how dirty her clothes were. Passing by a window, she took a couple of seconds to see just how she looked. Her hair was a mess, and she had a couple of cuts on her face, but nothing too serious. The worst really was her clothes, that looked dirty. She would have to change clothes as soon as possible, hoping the numerous stains would get out. Still, those stains had been a small price to pay, considering that she and Chloe would have been killed by the Collector, if he had caught them. Dialling Master Fu’s number, she waited for him to answer. Arriving at the end of the back alley, she saw herself in a busy street. It took her a couple of seconds to recognize where she was, while at the same time, she waited for the old master to answer. In the end, it went to his voicemail. Frustrated, Sabrina was about to dial the number again, when she decided to do something else. She knew where they were, and knew that one of her friend’s houses was nearby. If she could get Chloe there, the blonde would have a place to rest, while she tried to contact Master Fu again, so he could come help them.  

Going back to the back alley, when she arrived near the garbage bin, her heart nearly stopped, as she saw Chloe trying to get out of the garbage bin, using only her left arm. She was struggling to get out of the bin, but not even the pain she was, prevented her from trying. The stench coming from it was enough to make her, or anyone else, vomit.  

“Chloe, what are you doing?!” -Sabrina asked her, as she ran to help her out of the garbage bin.

“W-What do you think?! D-Did you r-really think I was going to just stay inside that garbage bin?!” –Chloe practically yelled at her. Her broken arm was hurting a lot, but not as much as the fact of her losing her miraculous and her kwami, though she would not say it. She did not want Sabrina to see her crying because of that, so instead, she decided to put on a tough face and yell at her. She hated it talking to her best friend like that, but she just did not want her to know she was heartbroken. –“B-Besides, it stinks in there.” -she said, as the redhead helped her. After getting out from the garbage bin, the blonde’s legs almost gave in, and if it was not for Sabrina, she would have landed on her butt. She had not taken a look at just how dirty she was, but knew that if she took a look at herself in the mirror, she would most likely faint.  

“You could’ve waited for me to come back, and help you out of it.” -Sabrina told her, as she helped her to sit on the ground. –“You’re in no condition to make any efforts… Here, let me take a closer look at your arm.” -she said, as she gently helped Chloe taking off her jacket. The place where she had broken her arm was all red and swollen. –“Let’s just hope it’s not as bad as I think it might be. I’ll have to immobilizie the arm, hold on.”

Remembering Chloe always had at least a scarf inside her backpack for fashion emergencies, Sabrina quickly took it and grabbed a ruler from her own backpack. Placing the ruler against the blonde’s arm, she then wrapped the scarf around it. More than once Chloe complained that it hurt, but that did not stop Sabrina from completing what she was doing. Once she finished, the redhead felt slightly proud of her accomplishment. One would even think that she was part of the Scout movement when she was younger, after doing what she did. But the truth was, she just had a really good teacher, her dad, who taught her everything she knew about first-aid.   

“There, that should hold it for now. Sorry if it hurt a bit.” -Sabrina said. –“Just try not to move your arm, and it’ll be okay.” -she warned the blonde.

“O-Ouch… t-thanks, Sabrina.”-Chloe thanked her with a gentle smile on her face. It was the first smile she had given her, since waking up. –“So… did you manage to contact Master Fu?” -she asked her.

“No such luck. He didn’t answer.” -Sabrina told her. –“But don’t worry, I’ve got a plan. I know where we are, and I know where we can go from here.” -she said. –“In the meantime, I’ll keep trying to contact Master Fu to meet us there. Do you think you can walk?”

“I-Is it far?” -Chloe asked her. Right then, she just wanted to go home, but knew that was not an option. Not until she had her arm healed by the old master. If any of the hotel’s staff saw her like that, they would tell her parents, and then, they would ask her what she had been doing, and she would not know what to say, without getting Sabrina into trouble.   

“No, it’s only a couple of blocks away, don’t worry.” -Sabrina told her.

“T-Then, I t-think I can.” -Chloe answered, as Sabrina helped her getting back on her feet. –“By the way, w-where are we going exactly?” -she asked, trying to ignore the pain. Right then, her arm hurt, but the rest of her body also ached. To keep herself from thinking about it, she focused on the disgusting smell emanating from both her clothes and Sabrina’s, thus giving her something else to complain about.  

“You’ll see, when we get there.” -Sabrina told her, as they began to walk. To help her out, the redhead was carrying both their backpacks. Her body also ached, but she knew that no matter how bad she felt, Chloe felt even worst, and that gave her the strength to do it.   

“M-Maybe we can get a taxi? I-I can pay for it… you know I can.” -Chloe told her, as they kept walking.  

“Not with this stench, Chloe.” -Sabrina reminded her. –“Most of us French love smelly cheese, but I don’t think we love it enough for a driver to let us in his taxi, smelling like garbage.” -she said.  

“N-Now, you’re s-sounding just like Plagg…” -Chloe joked, hoping that kind of conversation would help her forget the pain she was in.

* * *

At Marinette’s, the blue-haired girl and her best-friend Alya were taking their time to set the bedroom ready for the sleepover. At first, Marinette was not in the mood to do anything, except sleep, once she got home from school. But having Alya around, everything changed. As they assembled the spare bed Marinette had in her room for her guests, she saw that her best friend was right, when saying that she needed to have fun, and not just sulk around, like the world had ended. Plus, she knew that if Tikki was around, she would also tell her the same thing. Finishing the task, the two girls playfully jumped onto the bed, laughing out loud.

“Well, that’s another item we can cross check from our list.” -Marinette giggled. –“So, what else do we have to do?”

“Let’s see… we assembled the extra bed, made gingerbread cookies and also chose the first horror movie we’re going to see later tonight” -Alya said –“I guess we need to choose the rest of the movies, and choose what crazy t-shirts we’re going to wear.” -she declared. Wearing crazy t-shirts was one of the girls’ oldest traditions, because they would compete to see who would put on the craziest looking t-shirt.

“I think we can keep that last one until after dinner.” -Marinette said, smiling. –“Not that would matter, because I’m going to win.” -she laughed.

“I don’t think so, girl. Not with the t-shirt I brought with me today.” -Alya smirked, positive that Marinette did not have a t-shirt crazier than the one she had brought with her. This one had been bought just for an occasion like that.

“We’ll see.” -Marinette said, as she stretched her arms. –“Mmm… do you think the cookies are ready?”

“I don’t think so.” -Alya said, as she checked the clock. –“The recipe said they needed 20 minutes in the oven. It’s only been 15.” -she said.

“Still, I think we should go and check them. There’s nothing worst for the daughter of Paris’ best baker than to burn a batch of delicious cookies.” -Marinette playfully warned her.

“Relax, we won’t let that happen.” -Alya smiled. –“But before we go, how about some music?”

“What do you feel like listening? Rihanna? JLo? Take That? One Direction?” -Marinette playfully asked her, citing every Pop artist or group she could remember.      

“Too much Pop for my taste!” -Alya laughed. –“If Nino could have heard you, he would probably bash you in the head with a record, girl!” -she kept laughing. –“No, girl, you know what I’m in the mood to listen today.”

“Which leaves only two possible names to choose from… Fall Out Boy, or Jagged Stone.” -Marinette said, as she sat by her laptop, and accessed one of her playlists. –“And I think Jagged Stone wins… but which song should we listen to?”

“Anything from him is good.” -Alya told her.

“Okay, okay, I got the perfect one… “Shedding my Skin”, coming up.” -Marinette smiled.

She was about to start the song, when her cell phone began to ring. Quickly picking it up, she saw it was Sabrina who was calling her. Wondering why she was calling her, she wasted no time in answering the call.  

“Hi, Sabrina! What’s up?” -Marinette asked her. Listening to her, Marinette’s face turned white after what Sabrina told her. -“Oh my God! A-And are you two alright? Where are you?!” -she asked her, after which she listened to every single syllable the redhead told her. –“O-Okay, hold on, I’m coming. Meet me on the back in a minute.”

Seeing her friend like that, Alya knew there was something wrong. For starters, Sabrina usually did not call her, unless there was an amergency. And second, all the colour from her cheeks was gone. If she was any whiter, she would be a ghost. As soon as she terminated the call, she had to ask her what was going on.

“Girl, what’s going on?”

“We need to go downstairs. I’ll explain on the way.” -Marinette said, as she placed the cell phone on the desk.

“Marinette, you’re scaring me. What happened?” -Alya asked, insisting on knowing what was going on.

“Chloe and Sabrina were attacked by the Collector, and he got the bee miraculous.” -Marinette answered her. –“And the two of them are downstairs, and they need  help. Come on.”

While they went down the stairs, Alya did not utter a single word. Her brain was still processing the words that came out of her friend’s mouth a few seconds earlier. She wondered how that happened. How did Chloe and Sabrina got into a fight with the Collector, especially when they themselves reiterated the importance of not putting on their miraculouses, after Kim’s mishap. As for Marinette, she was simply worried about the two of them. What Sabrina told her made her assume the worst at first, and it was only when she told her that she and Chloe were hurt, but still alive that she was able to calm down a bit. She had told Sabrina to go to the building’s backdoor, where she would be waiting for them.

Once downstairs, Marinette told Alya to keep an eye out for her parents. The last thing they needed right then was for Tom and Sabine to see wither Chloe or Sabrina in a really messed up state. With Alya watching for trouble, Marinette opened the backdoor. Opening it, she saw the girls, with Chloe leaning against Sabrina. Both of them looked terrible, but the blonde was the one who looked worst.

“H-Hey, Marinette.” -Sabrina said, while trying to give her smile. By now she was exhausted.

“Oh, hurry, come on in.” -Marinette said, while letting them enter. –“Chloe, are you okay?”

“W-What does it look like, Dupain-Cheng?!” -Chloe snapped at Marinette. It had been a while since the blonde had called Marinette by her last name, something she used to do a lot in the past. –“S-Sorry… it’s just… it hurts a lot… and I lost Pollen…” -she apologized to Marinette, while trying not to cry.

“I-It’s, okay, Chloe. It’s okay.” -Marinette told her. For once, she did not care if Chloe yelled at her. She could only imagine what the two of them went through. –“Tell me, do you think you can climb up to my room?”

“We’ll handle it.” -Sabrina told her.

“Okay. Still, I think we better give you a little help. Alya, you help Chloe go up the stairs, while I help Sabrina.” -Marinette asked Alya, who silently nodded her head.

As they went up the stairs, neither Marinette nor Alya said a word or asked anything to both Sabrina and Chloe. They knew that was not the moment to ask questions, especially when they looked that bad. Sabrina looked she had come out of a scuffle, but Chloe on the other hand, looked more like she had been used as a punching bag for hours in a row. Still, worst than looking at them, without feeling bad about what happened to then, was the stench they were emanating. In the past, if Chloe had ever showed up with a broken arm and reeking of garbage, Marinette would have must likely laugh so hard, they would need to put her to sleep, just so she could stop laughing, as a payback for being a bully, not only to her, but also to the rest of their friends. But now, just thinking about that possibility broke her heart, and seeing it happening made her ashamed of ever wishing something like that would happen to her. Still, she tried to get those thoughts out of her mind, while focusing on getting blonde and Sabrina to her room.

When they got to the room, Marinette quickly grabbed a couple of towels and placed them on top of the bed she and Alya had assembled, so Chloe could have a place to lie down. She did not care that she looked filthy or anything, but it would be hard for her to explain to her mom how the sheets got dirty that way. As for Sabrina, she decided to stand. She was tired, but at the same time felt that if she sat, it would be hours until she was able to get back up. 

“Do you have anything you can give Chloe for the pain?” -Sabrina asked Marinette, concerned about Chloe, who was now lying on the bed, trying not to move her broken arm.

“Well, I have some aspirin around here. It’s not much, but I think it might help.” -Marinette said, as she went to get one, she had stashed in her purse, which was in the bathroom. Coming back with it and a glass of water, she handed it to the blonde. –“Here, try to take it, Chloe. It’ll help.” -she said, as Chloe grabbed the aspirin and the water.

“Did you contact Master Fu?” -Alya asked. The way Chloe was, they were going to need his healing powers to help her. 

“We’ve tried, but his cell phone keeps heading to voice mail.”-Sabrina said.

“He probably put it on silent mode. He does that when he wants to read or meditate.” -Alya said. –“But Max is with him, and he never puts his cell on silent mode, not even when he goes to the movies. So, we’re bound to get him that way.” -she declared, as she took her cell phone from the pocket in her jeans. –“I’ll call Max, and ask him to tell Master Fu to come here, on the double.”

“In the meantime, you two need to rest.” -Marinette told both. –“Sabrina, since Chloe is resting on this bed, you can rest on my bed.”

“There’s no need, Marinette. I’m fine.” -Sabrina told her.

“That was not a request, Sabrina, it was an order. You and Chloe went through Hell, and you need to rest.” -Marinette ordered her, with a sweet, yet commanding voice. –“Let me just get another towel and put in on top of my bed, and then, you can lie down for a bit.” -she said, as she was going to get the towel.

“O-Okay. But don’t you want to know what happened?”

“You can tell us that later. Right now, what’s important is that you get better.” -Marinette told her, as she came back with the towel. –“Now, come on, time for some rest. And don’t worry, when Master Fu arrives and fixes you up, we’ll have a batch of homemade gingerbread cookies made, and you can tell us everything, while eating one of them.” -she said. The truth was that Marinette wanted to know what had happened. But she valued more her friends’ well-being than an explanation. No matter what, an explanation could always wait.       

* * *

When Master Fu arrived, he, just like Chloe and Sabrina, came in through the backdoor, so as to not alert Marinette’s parents, who remained oblivious as to what was happening up on her daughter’s room. Once up in the room, he quickly examined both girls and healed them. They were both thinking that he was going to bombard them with questions regarding what happened. But he did no such thing. He focused on healing them, before asking any questions. The first one he took care of was Chloe. As he healed her arm, he noticed the way Sabrina had tied it, and could not help but to praise her work.

“You did a very good job, my dear. If you hadn’t wrapped it like this, the fracture Chloe had could have gotten a lot worse.” -Master Fu told Sabrina.

“She did a great job, as always.” -Chloe said, feeling a little better, now that the old master had healed her fractured arm. She was still a little weak, but at least she was not in so much pain anymore. –“Thanks, Sabrina.”

“I just did what it needed to be done.” -Sabrina smiled.

“Well, how do you feel, Chloe?” -Master Fu asked her.

“A little better…” -Chloe answered, as she slowly and gently moved her arm. She still felt a little pain, but this one was related to her exhaustion.

“Try not to lift any heavy objects, at least until tomorrow, so as to give time for the arm to heal properly. And be sure to place an ice bag over the swollen area. That way, the burning sensation you might be feeling will disappear.” -Master Fu advised her.

“Alright, master.”

“And now, let’s take care of you, my dear.” -Master Fu said, as he walked towards Sabrina.   

As he healed the two of them, Alya checked her email, to find out that she had in it, dozens, if not hundreds of links to videos of Queen Bee and Louve Grise saving the day. It did not take long for her to understand what had happened. Still, she did not say a word about it. She felt it would be better to wait until Master Fu had finished his job. At the same time, Marinette came back from the kitchen with a tray of freshly baked gingerbread cookies. She placed them on her desk, while calling out Master Fu.

“So, how are our patients?”-Marinette asked the old master.

“They will be fine.” -Master Fu smiled. –“With the exception of Chloe’s broken arm, the rest of their injuries are just a couple of bruises and cuts, and a lot of aching muscles. All they need is a little bit of rest.” -he said.

“That’s a relief.” -Marinette smiled, as she grabbed a couple of cookies and gave one to Chloe. –“Here, Chloe. You look like you could use one of these.” -she kept smiling.

Seeing her acting lile that, Chloe could hardly believe it. Even though she and Sabrina had not said a word about what really happened, Marinette knew that they had used their miraculouses and that they had lost one, hers, in a battle against the Collector. The blonde expected her to be angry, furious even, with them, before they could explain the whole situation. Instead, she was being her usual self. Once again, Chloe felt ashamed for all the things she did to Marinette over the years.    

“T-Thanks.” -Chloe said, as she grabbed the cookie. As she nibbled it, a small tear ran down her face. She did not know if it was a tear of shame, from feeling bad about all the things she said to Marinette over the years, or if it was a tear of joy, from feeling extremely lucky in having a friend like her. –“These are really good.” -she said, as she wipped the tear with her fingers.

“Thanks. They’re an old family recipe.” -Marinette told her, as she turned her attention to Sabrina, who was by then feeling a little better. –“Don’t worry, Sabrina, I havent’ forgotten about you. Alya and I made enough cookies for a whole regiment.” -she laughed.    

After Master Fu finished healing Sabrina, they all gathered around in the middle of Marinette’s room, so Chloe and Sabrina could tell them what happened. The two of them explained to Marinette, Alya and the old master what had happened, and how they felt the need to help. They told them everything, without sparing on the details; the way they fought the fire and rescued those who could not get out, along with the old lady’s cat; the fight against the Collector, and how they tried their best to give him the slip; the way Chloe placed herself in mortal danger to protect Sabrina, and of course, the way they managed to escape the villain. Chloe did most of the talking, with Sabrina filling in the details. You could hear just how nervous and upset they were, just from the tone of their voices. As for Marinette, Alya and Master Fu, none of them spoke a word, listening carefully to everything they said. 

“We know what we did was wrong, but we had to do it.” -Sabrina said.

“But maybe if we just stayed put, maybe I wouldn’t have lost my miraculous…” -Chloe said, trying to hold her tears. –“… and the Collector wouldn’t have taken Pollen away from me… oh, Pollen, my sweet little bee…” -she said, finally breaking into tears. The pain of losing her kwami was just too great for her.

Seeing her like that, Marinette felt a feeling of tightness in her chest. Once again, she could only imagine what Chloe was going through. If having Tikki locked away in her miraculous, and not being able to release her, just so she could talk to her for a couple of minutes made her feel bad, then having her miraculous and her kwami snatched away, without having the chance to fight back… the pain she was in, should be unimaginable, to say the least. Trying herself to withhold the tears, she felt the need to comfort the blonde with a few words. 

“Chloe…” -Marinette said, only to be interrupted by Chloe, who went on.

“I know, what you’re going to say… what we did was wrong… and now I lost my miraculous and my kwami to that monster… and I’ll never see it again!” -Chloe kept crying her eyes out. Right then, if she could rip out her heart, just so she could stop feeling all that sadness, she would. The thought of never seeing Pollen again was just too much to handle. Never she thought she would cry this much over her kwami. –“I’ll never be able to tell her just how special she is, or share a treat with her… I’m an awful person!!!” -she exclaimed, while continuing to cry.    

“Chloe… you’re right, what you did was wrong.” -Marinette told her. –“You decided to break the rule we had established. But like you said it earlier, disobeying that rule was the right thing to do.” -she said with her warm voice. –“If Alya and I had been in your shoes, we would’ve done the same thing, believe me.”

“It’s true. We wouldn’t just stand by and watch that building burn to the ground, without helping either.” -Alya declared. –“You didn’t have to do it, because of the threat the Collector represented, but you did it, without hesitating.” -she said. –“I bet that if Pollen was here, she would be proud of you and of your decision to do the right thing.”   

“And more importantly, you will see Pollen again, I promise you.” -Marinette said. –“We’re going to get her and your miraculous back, just like we’re going to get Kim’s miraculous and Imp back. You have my word that that’s going to happen, and when we get them back, you’ll be able to tell her just how much you love her and how special she is. I vow to make that happen.”

Hearing those words, Chloe jumped from where she was seated and hugged Marinette, wrapping her arms around the girl’s shoulders. The stench she was emanating was incredibly strong, but Marinette did not mind it, and instead, she hugged her back, allowing her to cry on her shoulder for a little bit. Seeing this, Sabrina also decided to join in, and hugged them both, while shedding a couple of tears. As for Alya, she was not the kind of girl who would get emotional with that kind of scenes; but in the end, she too decided to hug them, knowing that the promise Marinette had made to Chloe would be fulfilled. Whenever Marinette made a promise, she would fulfil it, even if she had to climb Mount Everrest to do it.

When they broke the hug, Chloe was the first one to talk.

“Thank you, Marinette.” -the blonde thanked her. –“What you said, meant a lot to me.” –she said, as she grabbed a handkerchief she had in her pocket, and wiped her eyes, whose make-up was all smudged due to he tears.

“It’s okay.” -Marinette said, wipping a couple of tears from her face –“All that matters is that you don’t lose hope and that everything will turn out okay in the end.” -she smiled.

“Indeed. Everything will turn out okay in the end, you’ll see.” -Alya smiled, giving her a thumbs up.

“They’re right, Chloe. Everything will turn out okay.” -Sabrina agreed. She truly believed they were going to find a way to recover the miraculouses the Collector had managed to get his hands on, so far.

Seeing them like that, Master Fu felt like they had forgotten he was standing right there. Chuckling a little, he reminded them all of his presence, before getting up.   

“Well, it seems like everything is going to be alright. Do not fret about what happened, and remember, in the end everything will be fine. I have a good feeling that Max and I are close to finding a way to stop the Collector and getting back the miraculouses he got.” -the old master said. –“By theway, I couldn’t help but to notice that you girls are preparing some sort of party for tonight.” -he said, looking at Marinette and Alya.

“Oh, yes, I convinced Marinette to throw a little sleepover.” -Alya admitted. –“I felt she needed some cheering up.” -she said.  

“I see. Then, if I may make a suggestion, do you think you could maybe have two more guests attending this little sleepover?” -Master Fu asked Marinette. –“I do believe that Chloe and Sabrina should remain here, today. After what they went through, neither one of them should be alone tonight.” -he said, knowing that Chloe usually spent her nights alone in her suite at the Grand Paris. As for Sabrina, he knew she had her parents, but given what she and the blonde went through, it would be a good idea for them to stay together that night. From experience, he knew that having someone to talk to after an event like that could be benefitial for both.

“Sure. I mean, I only have two beds, but, Alya can sleep with me, and you two can sleep together in this bed.” -Marinette said, without hesitating.  

“Thanks, but…”

“No buts, Sabrina, and the same thing goes for you, Chloe. Master Fu’s right, you shouldn’t spend the night alone, with no one to talk to. I insist that you two stay.” -Marinette said. –“Right now, you’re needing some serious time out, and from experience, a nice night with your friends, is just what the doctor ordered, for the two of you.” -she said. –“But first, I think we’re going to have to find a way for the two of you to stay here, with my parents knowing you’re staying over the night.”  

“But before that, you’re going to need a bath.” -Alya said. –“No offense, but right now, you girls stink.” -she said, which made everyone chuckle.


	16. The Sleepover

After Master Fu left through the backdoor, the girls began to think of a plan to get both Chloe and Sabrina to stay over for the sleepover. It did not take long for them to come up with what they felt was the best possible plan to have Chloe and Sabrina stay with them that night. Sabrina quickly called her parents and told them that she would be spending the night with Chloe and a few more friends, and that they did not need to worry about her. Chloe did the same, by calling her dad and telling him she was sleeping at a friend’s house, and that she would be back in the hotel the morning after. After that, she called her buttler, Jean, and ordered him to pack some clothes and a couple of more things for her and Sabrina, from her room and bringing them to Marinette’s house as quickly as possible. But, and just before she ended the phone call, she warned him to not forget to bring a special object he knew was very special to her, and that she wanted to have it near her that night, and that when he arrived, that he was to wait by the backdoor of Marinette’s building.

“Once he brings us our things, we’ll get changed, then go down through the backdoor, and show up on the front door, telling your parents that you are expecting us.” -Chloe said. –“It can’t fail.” -she smirked.

“I guess it’s a good plan.” -Alya said. When earlier, she managed to cconvince Marinette to throw a sleepover, the brunette never expected to have either Chloe or Sabrina joining them. Still, after what happened to them, she did not mind having them around. Sabrina was fun to talk to, and Chloe had come a long way since her bullying days, so at the very least, one could have a decent conversation with her, without having her acting like a spoiled diva. –“But before any of that can happen, you girls have got to take a shower.”

“Alya’s right. Who wants to go first?” -Marinette asked. She had gone pick up two old bathrobes and a couple more towels for them to use.

“You go first, Chloe.” -Sabrina said.

“Alright, but there be some soap inside.” -Chloe joked, which earned her a playful smile from Marinette, as she grabbed the towel and the bathrobe.  

“I think you’ll find everything you need inside, your majesty.” -Marinette playfully shot at the blonde, who returned the playful smile she had given her.   

Seeing both Marinette and Chloe acting like the best of friends was weird, to say the least, in Alya’s opinion. Still, it was better seeing them like that than when Chloe made her mission to antagonize her and the rest of the class every single day. The more she thought about it, the more she admitted that they should consider themselves lucky, because if it had not been for Chloe’s wish to change and to try to be a better person to everyone she knew, along with a little help from her kwami and Sabrina, she would still be the same stuck-up vane girl she was.

“ _Guess it’s safe to say that I prefer this Chloe, to the old one._ ” -Alya mused to herself. 

Stepping into the bathroom, the first thing Chloe noticed was just how small this one was, compared to the one in her suite. She had only been at Marinette’s house a couple of times in the past, and she remembered that she never wanted to stay more than she needed to, because she believed she was too important to be seen in a place that was below her standards of comfort. Now, she did not think it was below her standards. In fact, she believed her bedroom and her bathroom were small, but cozy, something her suite at the Grand Paris Hotel was not. Sure, her suite was quite large and luxurious, and she could have anything she wanted, with a snap of her fingers. But in the end, it lacked that certain “je ne sais quoi” which Marinette’s bedroom had.

Throwing her dirty clothes into the floor, she stepped into the shower. As the warm water ran down her body, she let out a sigh of relief. It was a while, since the feeling of warm water running down her body felt so good. In a matter of seconds, her whole body became relaxed, as she tried on the shampoo Marinette had in the little shelf next to the water taps. Looking at the bottle, she recognized the brand from the numerous ads that were spread over the city, as well as the ads on the television.

“ _Vanilla and kiwi… no wonder you’re always smelling a little bit like a fruit salad, Marinette._ ” -Chloe thought to herself, as she inhaled the shampoo’s sweet scent.   

At the same time, while Chloe was enjoying her shower, everyone on the team began to try and contact both her and Sabrina, after seeing the news and the videos of the fire, as well as their encounter with the Collector, that went viral on the Internet. But because the two of them did not feel like talking to anyone else about what had happened, they had turned off their cell phones. Not being able to contact them, they all called Marinette to find out what had happened, asking her if she knew anything. Nino, knowing Alya was with Marinette, called her instead, and she put him up to speed on what happened. As the leader of the team, she tried to answer all of their questions, but in the end, she was forced to create a chatroom online, so she could answer them all.

“What happened to Chloe and Sabrina?” -Mylene asked her.

“Did they lose their miraculous?” -Nathaniel asked her.       

“Where are they now?” -Alix asked her.

Those were just some of the questions they all asked. One by one, Marinette answered them, with Alya and Sabrina helping her out. The only one who had not joined that round of questions was Max, whom Master Fu told everything that happened, when he arrived at his apartment. To reaasure them that even though they had lost the bee miraculous, but that they were alright, Marinette added they were going to spend the night with her and Alya.

“Look, they’re both alright and they’re going to stay with me and Alya at my place tonight.” -Marinette told them all, begging them to be patient. –“I know you all want to know if they are okay, and you also want to know more about what happened to them, but the two of them went through a horrible experience; an experience even worst than the one Kim went through a couple of nights ago, and the last thing they need is for all of us to bombard them with questions.” -she kept typing on her laptop. –“Try to understand that they’re going to need a little time to calm down and to rest. Maybe tomorrow they’ll feel well enough to answer any questions you might have. And if so, we’ll all gather somewhere to talk, but until then, be a little patient. We wouldn’t be their friends if we forced them to relive the whole thing, an hour or two after it happened, now would we?”

With those words, Marinette hoped to appease the rest of her friends, as well as making them understand that right then Chloe and Sabrina did not need that kind of attention. And one by one, they all understood and wished them a speedy recovery, before logging off. Some, like Rose and Nathaniel, even sent them a “Get Well Soon” virtual card to cheer them up.

“It’s amazing what the right words can accomplish.” -Marinette said.

“No, what’s amazing is how you manage to use the right words to calm everyone, and make them see that while they should be worried about Chloe and Sabrina, they should also let them take their time to rest and recover, girl.” -Alya told her friend. –“If this doesn’t prove that you are the right person to lead us in battle, I don’t know what will, Marinette.”

“I agree with Alya. You’re amazing.” -Sabrina agreed.

“Amazing? Who’s amazing? What did I miss?” -Chloe asked, as she came out of the bathroom. After that shower, she was feeling a lot better.          

* * *

It took Jean a little longer to find out the place he was supposed to deliver the things Chloe had asked him to deliver. Because he had never accompanied Chloe to Marinette’s house before, he had to trust the directions she had given him over the phone. Parking the car near the Dupain-Cheng bakery, he then grabbed two volumous bags where he had placed everything Chloe had asked him to bring, and he made his way to the back of the building. He felt it strange for the heiress to ask him to come and bring those bags to the backdoor. But then again, over the years, he had learned never to question Chloe’s orders. Still, he wondered why she had asked for so much clothes, for her and Sabrina, if they were only going to stay there one night. The number of things she had asked for were enough for her to stay over at another person’s house during a whole week.

“I just hope I haven’t forgotten anything, or I’ll hear it from Miss Chloe.” -he said. Though she had been treating him a little better, than she used to, Chloe sometimes yelled at him for neglecting to do something she had asked him to do, or if he took longer than what she expected him to do something. Still, compared to her mother, who also scolded him, everytime she had the chance, Chloe was an angel, who did not demand much out of him. –“ _What could have happened in her mind, for her to want to come to sleepover? She has never been one to go to sleepovers, and more importantly, she never wanted to attend one._ ” -he thought to himself, as that question kept echoing in his mind.

Crossing the street, the weight from the bags was a little too much for him, still, Jean tried his best not to let go of them, while also trying not to get hit by a car. He almost slipped on the curb of the pavement, but luck was on his side, and he managed to get to the other side safe and sound, without tripping.

Alya, whom Chloe had asked to keep an eye out for Jean, while she was drying her hair, quickly saw him, and told Marinette to come downstairs with her to get the bags. Once downstairs, while being careful not to alert Marinette’s parents, they opened the door, and smiled at Jean, who looked exhausted. Looking at him, Marinette and Alya felt sorry for him, having to bring all the things Chloe had asked him to, without even knowing why he was doing it.

“Thank you, Jean. We’ll give this to Chloe.” -Marinette said, smiling, as she grabbed one of the bags and allowed Alya to grab the other.

“The blue bag has Miss Chloe’s things, while the red one has the things she requested for Miss Sabrina. Also, let Miss Chloe know that the special item she requested is on the bottom of her bag, and that if she needs anything else, all she has to do is call.” -Jean sighed, while trying to be professional.

“We will, and don’t worry. I think we can say that she won’t be needing you for the rest of the day.” -Marinette said, wondering what kind of special item she could have requested him to put in her bag.  

Saying goodbye to Jean, they gently closed the door, and carrying the bags, they went up the stairs, back to Marinette’s room. The bags themselves were a little heavy, but because of their training as heroes, to the girls they felt lighter than they felt to regular people. They could imagine the difficulty Chloe’s buttler had carrying them there.  

“Poor Jean… I bet bringing things to Chloe, when she’s out of the hotel, isn’t in his work description.” -Marinette giggled. –“Chloe and her parents should really give him a raise for doing these things.” -she told Alya.

“I’m with you. The poor man looked exhausted.” -Alya said.

“Well, let’s hope she told him everything she needed for tonight, because I would hate to be in his shoes, if she suddenly remembered that she hadn’t told him to place her favourite lip balm in the bag, or her unique and imported nail polish.” -Marinette giggled, knowing fully well that she should not be talking about Chloe that way, but not helping it, given how Chloe used to behave in the past. –“Anyways, even if she does remember something that she forgot to tell Jean to put in her bag, we’ll just tell her let it go, and we’ll let her borrow it from one of us.” -she told Alya.

“Okay. Now pick up the pace, slowpoke!” -Alya joked. –“By now Sabrina must have finished her shower, and must be wondering, along with Chloe, where her clean clothes are.” -she chuckled.      

* * *

After putting on some clean clothes, Chloe and Sabrina were ready to execute the second part of the plan. As planned, they would exit through the backdoor, and then show up at the bakery, where Marinette would welcome them, after she told her parents that two more friends would be coming to the sleepover.

Carrying the bags, Marinette went with them downstairs, always looking out for her mom and her dad. Timing was everything. If one of the two decided to show up, before either Chloe or Sabrina were out, and saw them, it would raise questions and Marinette would have a hard time explaining why were they there. They were climbing down the last flight of stairs, when they heard someone’s footsteps. Marinette recognized them as her mom’s footsteps. Silently, she signalled the girls to stay put. It took a few seconds, but eventually Marinette’s mom, Sabine showed up in her line-of sight, heading to the small room they had in the back for cakes and pastries that had been ordered, probably to get one, whose owner had showed up. She showed up again, carrying a large box, which Marinette recognized as the box where her dad placed a cake that had been ordered for a birthday party of a little girl. As soon as she went through the door that took her back to the bakery, Marinette told Chloe and Sabrina to follow her.

“See you in a minute.” -Marinette said, as she opened the door for the girls.

Repeating to herself that “timing is everything”, she closed the door, and next went into the bakery. On that afternoon business was slow. With the exception of the lady that had come pick up the birthday cake they had seen Sabine getting, who was now leaving, there was no one else in the bakery. Seeing her daughter, Sabine wondered if there was something wrong.

“Oh, Marinette, honey, is there something wrong?”-Sabine asked her.

“Oh, no, mom, everything’s okay.” -Marinette smiled. –“I was just wondering if you needed any help?”

“No, honey, not at the moment. Besides, you can’t leave Alya by herself. What kind of host would you be, if you let your guest all by herself?” -Sabine said, as she took the opportunity to rearrange some of the croissants that were on the display case.  

“Yeah, about that… this wasn’t really planned, but, Alya won’t be the only one attending my sleepover.” -Marinette smiled nervously. –“There are two more guests coming. I know I should’ve told you and dad, when I got home, but they didn’t know if they would be able to come, and now they called and said that they are on their way…” -she went on, as the nervous smile on her face grew by the second.

“Honey, it’s okay. You know what your father always says, “The more the merrier”.” -Sabine smiled kindly to her daughter. –“Besides, you’ve been so down lately, that a sleepover with your friends is just what you need to cheer up a little.” -she said. –“Besides, it’s not like you invited your whole class… did you?”

“N-No, of course not, mom.” -Marinette giggled.

“Good, because if you had, I’m afraid we wouldn’t have the room to have all of your friends.” -Sabine commented in playful tone. –“So, besides Alya, who’s coming to your sleepover.”

“Oh, it’s just Chloe and Sabrina.” -Marinette said

“Chloe, as in Chloe Bourgeois? The mayor’s daughter?” -Sabine asked, a little surprised. The heiress had already visited the bakery before, but this was the first time she was sleeping over.  

“Yes, that Chloe. And then, Sabrina, you know, Lt. Raincomprix’s daughter.” -Marinette said casually.

“Who else is coming to your sleepover, Marinette?” -Tom asked his daughter, as he came out of the baking room. He had caught part of the conversation between Marinette and Sabine.

“Chloe and Sabrina.” -Marinette told her dad, when she spotted the girls outside the bakery’s door. –“Oh, they have arrived.”

Entering, Chloe and Sabrina were welcomed by the delicious aroma of freshly-baked bread and cookies that was in the air. Looking at them, one would have never guessed the two of them had been into a fight against a dangerous foe an hour before. Carrying the bags Chloe’s buttler had brought them, the girls smiled to the Dupain-Chengs, as they closed the door behind them.

“Hey, Marinette!” -Sabrina exclaimed. –“Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Dupain-Cheng.” -she told Marinette’s parents.

“Thanks for inviting us, Marinette. And thank you for having us over, Mr. and Mrs. Dupain-Cheng.” -Chloe smiled.

The whole scene almost looked like it had been rehearsed over and over between the three girls, but the truth was that nothing was rehearsed. The only thing that happened was that they stuck to the plan, and then, allowed themselves to go with the flow. Marinette’s parents did not suspect a thing, and were just happy that their daughter was happy about having her friends over. After that, Marinette and the girls went up to the girl’s room, where Alya was waiting for them.

“Took you a little longer to come back than I expected.” -Alya giggled, as Chloe and Sabrina entered the room, followed by Marinette.

“Well, now that my parents’ know you are all here, what should we do first?” -Marinette asked them, as they dropped their things on the floor. –“Come on, it’s going to be my job to cheer you girls up, just like it’s going to be your job to cheer me up, Alya.” -she said.

“And who’s going to cheer me up, girl?” -Alya playfully asked the blue-haired girl.

“Why, it’s going to be our job to cheer you up, silly.” -Marinette joked, making Alya laugh a little. –“But nobody has answered my question yet. What are we going to do first?” 

“I don’t know, but I’m a little hungry. Do you still have more of those cookies?” -Sabrina asked her.

“No, I’m afraid we ate them all… but we can make more.”

“Can we?”

“Of course, we can, Sabrina. Remember, my house is just beneath a bakery, which happens to be owned by my parents. We have enough ingredients to bake cookies for all of Paris!” -Marinette replied with an enthusiastic voice. –“Okay, maybe not all of Paris, but maybe for everyone in a 4 block radius we have.” -she joked.

“Well, I don’t mind going to the kitchen and bake cookies again.” -Alya smiled. –“Count me in!”

“What about you, Chloe? Do you want to bake cookies as well?” -Marinette asked the blonde. She had not spoken a word since she greeted Marinette’s parents.    

“I… I don’t know.” -Chloe said. She had never baked cookies before. Even when Marinette’s dad came to school for one of his famous cooking lessons at the end of tem, she refused to participate, afraid to get messy or to ruin her clothes. She changed since then, but now, she was afraid that she would not be able to bake cookies properly. –“Maybe, I’ll just watch you girls bake, and I’ll try it some other time.”  

Noticing Chloe was a little hesitant, Marinette decided to give her a little boost of confidence, as well as the little push she needed to jon them in the kitchen.

“Nonsense. If you’re afraid that you don’t know how to bake cookies, don’t worry. Alya was a terrible baker as well.” -Marinette told her. –“Besides, I’ll give you a couple of hints on how to do it. Come on.” -she smiled.  

* * *

Baking cookies went smoothly, with the girls trying more than one recipe, to see which ones came out better. And as they baked, they found out that Chloe, who believed she was not even able to fry an egg without burning it, was actually pretty good at baking them. At first, she was not used to using any of kitchen utensils, not even knowing the difference between a mixing bowl and a colander. But with a little help from Marinette, Alya and Sabrina, she managed to bake a few cookies. While waiting for the cokie dough to chill, they tried to decide what the shape of the cookies would be. After five minutes, they decided to shape them like animals. Dogs, cats, birds, chickens, lions, dolphins, snakes, among others. Unlike the ones made by Marinette, which came out pretty as a button, hers looked a little ugly to the eye. But they all told her that what mattered was how they tasted, and not how they looked.

“Don’t feel bad, Chloe. What matters is that they taste nice.” -Marinette said, as she placed the very last cookie in the baking pan, before placing them in the oven.

“Yeah, I bet yours are going to the ones that taste better.” -Sabrina said. –“With the amount of sugar you placed in the dough, they’re going to taste sweet, that’s for sure.”

The whole experience was good for Chloe, who had done something she never did. But it was also a good experience for the rest of the girls, who found a way to cheer up the blonde after all that happened to her, as well as finding out that she had a talent, she did not even know she had. To Marinette, that was the best about sleepovers and hanging out with friends. You would find out things about each other, you never expected to find out, and that way, form a strong bond, which would only get stronger with time. The four of them already had a very strong bond among them, but this one was based almost solely on the fact that they were in the same class and that they all worked together as superheroes to prevent Hawk Moth and his cronies from taking over Paris, and the world. During these events, was when that bond grew the most, becoming stronger, as they shared everyday life experiences.

While waiting for the cookies to bake, the girls went back to Marinette’s room to discuss what they were going to do that night. The plans she and Alya had come up with, did not include Sabrina and Chloe, so it was time to scrap them and come up with new ones.  

“Look, Alya and I, we were going to watch some horror movies after dinner. We even had chosen one already, but now that you’re here, maybe you want to suggest us doing something else?” -Marinette asked them.

“It depends… was it a really scary movie?” -Sabrina asked. –“You know… does it have blood or…”

“She wants to know if it’s a movie with buckets of blood, or if it’s a more pshychological terror.” -Chloe summed up what Sabrina was going to say. She knew Sabrina was not a very big fan of the horror genre, though she did not mind watching horror movies where there were lots of blood.

“No, this one doesn’t have much blood. It’s more of a psychological horror movie.” -Marinette answered her. –“It’s Mama.” -she said.

“The one where the monster turns into a bunch of moths in the end?” -Sabrina asked her.

“Yup, that one.” -Alya waved her head. –“I know, I know, it sound like something that Hawk Moth would do, but trust me, it’s not a super scary movie.”

“Then, I guess we could watch it.” -Sabrina said. –“But, can we also watch a romantic comedy? I’m kind of a sucker for those… Chloe also loves them.” -she giggled.

“As long it’s not one of those really mushy romantic comedies, okay? No movies like “Notting Hill” or “Bridget Jones Diary” or “10 Things I hate About You”, please.” -Chloe warned them. She loved romantic comedies, but not all of them.

“But I like Bridget Jones Diary, Chloe. And it’s not that mushy, as you’re saying.” –Sabrina protested.

“Sabrina, no offense, but you love every movie that Renee Zellwegger is in.” -Chloe told the redhead.  

“What about “Warm Bodies”? Or is that one too mushy for you, Chloe??” -Marinette asked the heiress, remembering that Alya and Sabrina had told her once they both liked the movie.

“No, that one’s good.” -Chloe said. She had watched the movie more than 50 times, but it was a movie she was always glad to watch once again.

“Well, I have it somewhere around here, so we can watch it, after watching Saw.” -Marinette said. –“And then, what? Netflix Marathon?”

“I’m up for it. But from which series?” -Sabrina asked

“Well, I’ve been wanting to rewatch Riverdale.” -Marinette said. –“What do you think? If you don’t, we can always watch another season of the series, or even another series.” -she told them.

“I’m cool with it, as long as we have popcorn.” -Alya declared. For her, a Netflix or movie marathon was not a marathon, without some popcorn and snacks.

“Sure. I’ve never seen it, but they usually don’t stream bad series, so…” -Chloe agreed.

“Alright.” –Sabrina also agreed. –“And, what about fashion makeovers? Are we going to do each other’s nails and try new hairstyles?” -the redhead asked them, as that was something that people tended to do on a sleepover.

“Of course, we will, Sabrina. We’re going to do that and even more. And only when we’re really tired, will we go to bed.” -Marinette said with a smile. She intended that sleepover to be the best sleepover ever, not only for her, but also for Alya, Chloe and Sabrina. After everything that happened that day, they needed a good reason to smile.

* * *

After dinner, where Marinette’s dad, Tom, made a couple of his world-famous pizzas for the girls to eat in Marinette’s bedroom, the girls engaged in a series of activities, just like the blue-haired girl had told them they would. First, they did each other’s nails and tried on a couple of new hairstyles, snapping selfies and then posting the best online. Some of them came out pretty awesome, while others came out pretty funny.

“Oh, this one’s really pretty, Marinette.” -Sabrina said. –“You should really wear your hair loose like that more often.”

“It’s what I keep telling her. She looks cute that way.” -Alya declared.

“I know I look okay with my hair loose, but I prefer wearing it like this.” -Marinette said, as she finished putting her hair back into two beautiful pigtails. –“I know it may look a little childish, but I love wearing my hair like this.”

“You also said the same thing when you also wore it in a bun.” -Alya said. –“You’ve got to change your hairstyle once in a while, girl.”

“Okay, I’ll try. But you’ve got to do the same. You should use yours in a ponytail. And Chloe should use hers loosen as well.” -she looked at the blonde, had been wearing hers into two loose pigtals.

“I wish I had longer hair… but no matter what I do, it doesn’t grow any longer than this.” -Sabrina sighed.

“I like your hair that way. It suits you, Sabrina.” -Chloe told her, trying to cheer her up. –“It’s not too short, and it’s not too long. It’s got the perfect size. Plus, that way, it doesn’t get in front of your eyes, and you don’t have so much work brushing it at night, like we all do.” -she smiled.

“Thanks, Chloe. But really, I would give anything to have a hair like yours, or maybe like Marinette’s.” -the redhead said.

“Maybe one day you will. Who knows? Maybe one day you’ll be able to grow your hair longer than you do now.” -Alya told her, with a warm smile. –“Now, which one of your selfies do you want to post online, Sabrina? This one, where your hair is hiding one of your eyes, or this one here, where you you have that mysterious look?” -she asked the redhead.

As the night progressed, the girls did what they had planned. First, they watched the horror movie, then, the romantic comedy, and finally, they began a Netflix marathon, while stopping, from time to time to either go to the bathroom, or to go down to the kitchen to get more popcorn or some other snacks.

Because Marinette’s room was mostly insulated, they did not have to worry about making too much noise, that would disturb or wake up her parents, which was a good thing, because while they were watching the horror movie, Sabrina screamed a couple of times, after seeing the victims dying. Marinette also pretended do be frightnened, though Alya knew that was just her faking it, so Sabrina would not feel like she was the only one who got scared with the movie.

“Oh, come on now, don’t tell me you didn’t see that coming? I saw that death coming a mile away!” -Alya told Marinette, reinforcing the little charade she was putting on.

“I did, but you know that there are parts in these mvoies that jump scare me.” -Marinette told her. –“ _She’s right, anyone could have seen that coming from like a mile away… these movies are getting too predictable._ ” -she thought to herself.  

“I guess Chloe and I are the only ones who are brave enough to watch any horror movie, without screaming in terror.” -Alya smirked.

“Yeah, we’re the truly courageous ones here!” -Chloe exclaimed, smiling. Looking at her, one would not even guess that just a few hours before, she had gone through an indescribable ordeal, when she lost her miraculous and her kwami. The other girls were happy to see her smile.  

But while Sabrina might have been a little jumpy, watching the horror movie, one could fully tell that there was not one of them who was not a softy at heart, while watching “Warm Bodies”. The movie was both funny, exciting, romantic and a little sad, all at the same time. They had all watched it more times than they could remember, and like everyone who watches a movie too many times, they knew every line by heart.

“ _What am I doing with my life? I'm so pale. I should get out more. I should eat better. My posture's horrible. I should stand up straighter. People would respect me more if I stood up straighter. What's wrong with me? I just want to connect. Why can't I connect with people? Oh, right, it's cause I'm dead_ ” -Marinette quoted R’s line.

“ _I shouldn’t be so hard on myself We’re all dead. This girl’s dead. That’s guy’s dead. That guy in the corner is definitely dead. Jesus, these guys look awful._ ” -Chloe quoted R’s next line, trying not to break into laughs.

“ _I wish I could introduce myself, but I don’t remember my name anymore. I mean, I think it starts with an R, but that’s all I have left._ ” -Alya quoted R’s following line.

“ _I can’t remember my name, nor my parents, nor my job. Although, my hoodie would suggest that I was unemployed._ ” -Sabrina quoted R’s line.

“Boom! 100 points for maximum accuracy for all of us!” -Alya laughed. –“I told you we all had this memorized.” -she kep laughing.

“Yeah, well, let’s see if we can do it again, when the humans start to show up. R’s lines are too easy.”-Chloe told her. –“Bet one of you is going to get one of the lines wrong.”

“We’ll see about that, Chloe.” -Marinette said, as she muched one a few popcorns.

And throughout the rest of the movie, when they reached an iconic scene, they tested each other’s knowledge of the movie, by quoting the lines by heart. If one of them got them all right, she would get 100 points. But if one failed, she would have 50 points taken from her final score. A simple, yet very entertaining game. In the end, Alya won, followed by Chloe in second place, Sabrina in third place and Marinette in fourth place.

“Guess I won. You may bow to the queen of quotes!” -Alya joked.

“In your dreams, Cesaire!” -Chloe laughed. –“If I hadn’t failed that last one, I would have beaten you, fair and square.”

“Is there anymore popcorn?” -Sabrina asked, seeing the bowl practically empty.

“I guess I have to go and make some more. We can’t watch a Riverdale marathon without some popcorn.” -Marinette said, as she grabbed the bowl.

“You need some help?” -Alya asked her.

“No, that’s okay. I’ll be back in five minutes.” -Marinette told her, as she opened the door, and went to the kitchen to make some more popcorn.

When she got back, Alya had already set everything for the four of them to begin that marathon. One of the things that made Netflix so appealing, and in a way, so addictive, was that once you finished watching an episode, you would want to watch the following one, right after. The global phenomenon affected millions of people, and the girls were no strangers to it. Once settled, with a huge bowl of popcorn, they began to watch the first season in silence. But it did not take long for them to start talking about which character they liked the most, or the one they liked the least, or why a character would do a certain thing, instead of doing another. The typical conversatons one would have while watching a Netflix marathon. 

“I don’t really like how they’re depicting Betty in this one.” -Marinette said. From all the characters in the show, Betty was the one she believed looked more different than her comic book counterpart.

“I do. She’s really pretty.” -Sabrina said.  

“But she’s not like her comic book counterpart.” -Marinette kept saying. Since she was little, she read Betty and Veronica, whenever she got the chance, and she had idealized them in her head, in a way that did not match the show’s depiction of them.  

“And she doesn’t have to, girl. You know fully well that just because the characters are based on their comic book counterparts, that doesn’t mean they have to act like them.” –

Noticing Chloe was very silent, Marinette wondered what she was thinking about.       

“What are you thinking about, Chloe? Are you feeling sleepy?” -Sabrina asked her friend, noticing that she had yawned a couple of time already.

“Uh… no, I was just thinking about one thing that was on the news, when we first showed up as heroes.” -Chloe told her. –“They were talking about making a comic book and an animated series, and, I was just thinking on how would they portray us in either one of those two projects.” -she declared, as she grabbed two popcorn from the bowl.  

“I remember that.” -Alya said, as she paused the episode. –“I don’t know if they’re stull going to make it, but, I for one would love to see it happening.” -she admitted. –“It would be fun to become a cartoon character, and perhaps, who knows, influence others to do the right thing, when given the choice.”

* * *

After five episodes, the girls decided to call it a night. Feeling exhausted, they all needed a couple of hours of sleep. As soon as their heads landed on their pillows, all the girls feel asleep; all, except for Chloe. While spending time with the others and having fun, she forgot about what had happened to her that afternoon. But now, in the dark, she remembered everything, and that prevented her from falling asleep. Still, she knew that was most likely bound to happen, and that was why she had her butler pack something she knew would comfort her on that night. Waiting for the others to fall asleep, she then picked her cell phone and used it as a flashlight to silently go to her bag and retrieve the object she believed was going to help her sleep. Opening it, she took a small yellow teddybear from inside, and placed it against her chest, hugging it as hard as she could. That teddybear was Mr. Cuddles, Chloe’s first friend, before she met Adrien, Sabrina or any other kid she would later call a friend. It had been a gift from her dad. Mr. Cuddles had been Chloe’s friend and confidant since she was just 3 years old. It had been him whom she held onto every time her mom travelled, leaving her behind to be cared by her dad, and by her butler Jean. She slept with him every night, until she was 10. After that, she began to feel like she was too old to sleep with a stuffed toy, and told Jean to keep it in a box in her wardrobe. Still, in days where she felt really bad, she would take it from the box he was in, and she would sleep with it, feeling safe. Ever since she became a Miraculous heroine, Pollen had taken up Mr. Cuddles place, though Chloe never forgotten about him. And on that night, she was going to need him. The teddybear was old, and its fur was not as soft as it once was, but she did not mind. She had grown accostumed to it.

“ _I guess you’ll just have to keep me company tonight, Mr. Cuddles._ ” -Chloe thought to herself. She had waited for the others to be asleep to go and get him. It was not that she minded the others to know about the teddybear, but there were things that she wanted to keep to herself, and Mr. Cuddles was one of them.

Going back to bed, she tried not to wake up Sabrina, as she slid back into the sheets. Finding a comfortable position, she then placed the teddybear against her chest, squeezing it gently, as she closed her eyes, hoping to fall asleep soon. Seconds passed, and Chloe just tried to relax. But no matter how much she tried, every time she closed her eyes, all she saw was Pollen, whom was not with her anymore thanks to the Collector. She tried to ignore it, but there was nothing she could do it. The more she tried, the harder it was for her to ignore it. Tryig not cry, she got up from bed, and decided she needed some fresh air. Gently going up the stairs, she did her best not to wake any of the girls, heading towards the door that led to the balcony. Gently opening it, she felt the cool night breeze entering, which made her close the door behind her. Already outside, she went up the little flight of stairs that led to the terrace, while never letting go of Mr. Cuddles, which she kept against her chest. Once on the terrace, she realized just how peaceful it was. She had heard Marinette saying more than once that she loved her little terrace, not only because it was the perfect place for her to relax when there a sunny day, but also because sometimes at night, when there was no one on the streets, it was possible for her to imagine that she was the only one living in Paris.  

Leaning against the railing, she stared at the now empty city. In just a couple of hours, when the sun rose, the city would once more become the busy metropolis that was always. But right then, it looked almost like a ghost town, with one or two cars moving on the streets. Looking at the iconic buildings that made up the cityscape of Paris, Chloe could not help but to remember some of the events that took place in them, or near them, when she was wearing her miraculous. This, in response triggered memories she had of her kwami, and with it, the feeling of sadness she had inside her chest. She tried not to cry, but the feelings inside her were just too strong for her to be able to hold her tears. She missed Pollen, and right then, she felt that if someone showed up, telling her that she could have her back, in exchange for her own soul, she would take it, no questions asked. She just wanted to see the creature who was like a part of her soul, a part which enabled her to do good… the one creature, who apart from Sabrina, was her best friend.    

“P-Pollen… come back to me…” -Chloe whispered, as the tears kept rolling down her face. Suddenly, she felt something touching her felt shoulder, which scared her.  

“S-Sorry, didn’t want to scare you.” -Marinette told her. She had hoped Chloe had heard her footsteps, but that did not happen.  

“D-Did I wake you up?” -Chloe asked Marinette, a little surprised to see her.

“No, you didn’t. I woke up with the need for a glass of water. But when I saw that you weren’t in bed, I figured that you might have come up here.” -Marinette said. –“And before you ask, I usually do come up here when I can’t sleep, so I figured that you might have come up here to think.” -she admitted, as she leaned against the railing, next to the blonde. –“You can’t sleep?”

“No…” -Chloe sighed, as a tear ran down her face. –“I can’t stop thinking about Pollen. Every time I close my eyes, I see her waving at me with that cute little smile she has, when I give her a spoon of honey… and it pains me, because I know that she’s not here anymore.” -she said, as another tear ran down her face. –“I wonder if I had had done things differently, maybe I wouldn’t have lost her and my miraculous… I keep telling myself that I’m not the worst person in the world for losing both, but my brain keepings telling me otherwise, Marinette…”

“Chloe, what’s done is done. Besides, I promised you that I will find a way to get her and Imp back, along with the miraculouses, and I intend to keep my promise.” -Marinette told her in a sweet, almost melodious voice.

The blonde knew that, but still, it pained her to have lost both her miraculous and her kwami. Thanks to her, the Collector now had two miraculouses in his possession, and was most likely waiting to see which one of them would commit an error, and give him a third one. In her mind, she kept reliving the moment when she placed herself in front of Sabrina, to save her from the fire ball, and thinking about what could she have done to save Sabrina from being roasted alive, while also keeping her miraculous.   

“I can’t help it… I keep reliving the moment where I blew everything. I should have pulled Sabrina with my trompo, instead of just jumping in front of her. Or maybe, I should have thrown myself at the Collector…”

Realizing she could not stop thinking about how a miscalculation of her part had cost her, her miraculous, Marinette knew that whatever she told her next, could make the difference between her feeling better, or feeling even worst than she was already feeling. Thinking on what to say to Chloe, she genly placed her arms around her, and hugged her.

“It’s okay, Chloe, it’s okay.” -Marinette held her in her arms, comforting her. –“We all do mistakes. But that doesn’t mean we have to keep reminding of them. We just need to… well, it’s going to sound a little corny, but we’ve got to put the past behind us, just like Timon and Pumbaa taught Simba in the Lion King, so we can move forward.” -she told her, who raised her eyebrow. –“I told you it was going to sound corny, but there is truth in those words. And I want you to know that we’re all here for you.”

“You and the others weren’t this nice with Kim when he lost his miraculous. So, why are you being so nice to me?” -Chloe asked her. –“I mean, it’s not that I don’t mind… it feels nice to know that you don’t blame me and all, but still…”

“Because Kim lost his miraculous, by ignoring what we had agreed on not putting our miraculouses for his own personal and slightly selfish reasons. You, on the other hand, along with Sabrina, put on your miraculouses to help others, even at the risk of your own lives. That’s not selfish, that’s something absolutely selfless, Chloe.” -Marinette declared.

The words Marinette said touched Chloe’s heart, as she hugged the blue-haired girl, squeezing Mr. Cuddles between their chests. Back when they first got their miraculouses, the whole group had voted that she would be the team’s leader, with Adrien as her second in command. The blonde had agreed with that decision, but sometimes, deep inside her, she wondered if they had chosen right. But now, any doubts she might have about it, vanished. The way she had handled that whole situation, how she never lost her calm, and how she was always more interested in the well being of Sabrina and her, without even questioning or judging why they did what they did, before knowing the whole story, she saw that they had clearly chosen the right person for the job. She was a true leader, both with and without a supersuit and a mask.   

“Thanks for doing this.” -Chloe humbly thanked her, as they broke the hug. Marinette could say that she had never heard Chloe speaking in such a humble tone. It was like she was hearing a totally different person speaking. And in a way, she was hearing a totally different person… a different Chloe.

“For what exactly?”

“You know, listening to me and my problems, adivising and supporting me, following Master Fu’s advice on letting me stay over tonight and take part on your sleepover.” -Chloe told the blue-haired girl. –“You didn’t have to, but you did.”

“Of course, I had to. I told you, you’re my friend, and you needed my support. Not only mine, but Alya and Sabrina’s. We need to stick together, because that’s what friends do, no matter what.”

“Friend… that’s one word that I still find hard to believe I’m hearing from you. After all I did to you and the others, you had every reason to hate me, even after I decided that I had to change, because I couldn’t stand being the way I was anymore, and got my miraculous.” -the blonde said, while trying not to think about Pollen, though it was hard.

“You know, half a year ago I would probably say that I would never be a friend of yours, but not anymore.” -Marinette declared. –“You’re not that selfish, self-absorbed, mean, egocentric and narcissistic bully you were, when we first met. You changed, for the best, and just like I said before, we’ve got to put our past behind us, or otherwise we won’t be able to move forward, and I chose to put all of that behind me and give you a chance to prove me that you truly wanted to change. I’m proud of calling you my friend, Chloe.”        

Once again, the blonde hugged her, as a way to thank her for her sweet and kind words. With the exception of Sabrina, Pollen and perhaps Adrien, no one had ever said such kind words, and it felt good to her, to hear that someone else had seen just how much she had tried to change and succeeded.

“Now, come on, let’s get you inside. The last thing we need is for you to catch a cold.” -Marinette told her. –“By the way, what’s with the teddy bear?” -she finally noticed Mr. Cuddles.

“O-Oh, this… it’s…”

“You don’t have to tell me, if you don’t want to.” -Marinette told her, sensing she did not really want to talk about it –“I understand if you don’t want to tell me. Some things are better left unsaid.” -she said, respecting Chloe’s privacy, as they began to go down the stairs. Marinette knew that if Chloe wanted to talk about it, she would, and if not, she would be okay not knowing about it.  –“Oh, and one more thing. Since you can’t fall asleep, because you can only think about Pollen how much you miss her and how sad that makes you, I’m going to tell you a way you can fall asleep really quick. Instead of thinking on how much you miss her and how sad that makes you, think about what you’re going to say to her, the split second you see her again, and how happy that will make you.”

“Does it really work?” -Chloe asked her.

“It works with me. I fall asleep thinking on what I’m going to do with Tikki, once this Collector business is over, so, why shouldn’t it work with you?” -Marinette told her, with a smile, as she opened the balcony’s door.


	17. Talking in the Bandstand

While Marinette and Chloe went back to bed, a few miles from there, a dark man waited, with a dark purpose in his mind. That dark man was none other than the Collector. Having made the bell tower of Notre-Dame his hideout, the armoured fiend was right then in profound contemplation, while meditating. The pigeons inside the bell tower, who scattered every time the bells sounded off, were his only companions, and he liked that. He believed that, unlike people, animals did not have a single speck of evil in them. After all, from all the animals in the world, humans were the only ones who took pleasure in inflicting pain unto other humans and animals. And he had seen this with his own eyes, one too many times to believe otherwise. Plus, as a bonus, the pigeons did not talk, and as such, did not bother him, the same way he did not bother them.

The view from the bell tower was one of the most beautiful ones in all of Paris, but the Collector was not interested in it. If while meditating, he kept his eyes open, the only thing he would see just how many injustices there were in that city. There just so many, and he could feel them happening. Some were quite small, but others were as big as mountains. He just wanted to go and punish those who were committing these injustices. Still, after what happened that afternoon, he needed to cleanse his spirt, as well as his regaining his energies. The fight against Queen Bee and Louve Grise took a toll on him, larger than he wanted to admit. Ever since he was freed, his powers awoke, and were coming back in full force, little by little, a side effect from being trapped for so many centuries. Still, it would only be a little longer until all his powers came back, and he would be able to use them to carry on his mission, a mission which to him was the sacrest of all missions. A mission, which he believed, would ensure peace and justice for all mankind. But before he could carry on that misson, along with the powers given to him by the zodiac miraculouses, which formed his suit of armour, he was going to need the original miraculouses. Two of them were already in his power… all he had to do was to get the others. Feeling their energy in the belt he had created for them, he knew their powers were going to be essential in his mission.

"Those two fought well. Unlike the holder of the antelope miraculous, who decided to run, instead of facing me, like a true warrior, the holders of the bee and wolf miraculous fought bravely." -the Collector thought to himself. –"It is a pitty that I could only snag the bee miraculous… but no matter. I will get the wolf miraculous, as well as the others, sooner or later." -he said. –"It is only a matter of time, and time is one my side."

He had just finished that thought, when he felt something landing on his shoulder. Opening his eyes, he saw that a pigeon had decided to use his shoulder as a landing spot. Slowly, he reached for the animal and allowed him to jump into his hand. Looking at him, the pigeon also did the same, by staring him into his red eyes.

"You, my friend, just like your brothers and sisters, and all other animals, will see the dawn of a new world. A world where the righteous and the innocent will live in peace, and where those who hurt and victimize others, will meet their creator by my hand." -the Collector told the pigeon. –"Yes, a world like that will be possible, and with me as its judge, jury and executioner, it will be a world where there will be peace and justice for all of those who seek it." -he said. –"Of course, to do that, sacrifices will have to be made. After all, cannot make an ommelet without breaking a few eggs."

* * *

The sleepover was a success. Not only, thanks to Alya's idea of a sleepover, did Marinette felt a lot happier and filled with energy, but the same thing could be said for Chloe and Sabrina. After what had happened, that sleepover was just what they needed, especially Chloe, to cheer herself up and to have faith that things would turn out for the best. As they packed everything, they had brought with them, they all agreed that they needed to meet up later, after lunch, with the rest of the team, who would surely want to know what had happened the previous afternoon. Chloe was a little afraid of what the others were going to say to her, after she lost her miraculous. A small part of her was afraid that they would be as hard as they all were with Kim, or in her case, even harder, because of when she acted like a spoiled diva. Still, Sabrina told her that everything was going to be alright and that no one would be mad or angry at her. As for herself, the redhead was thinking if she was going to be able to join everyone else after lunch, given that she had spent the whole night away from home.

"I'll have to tell my parents that we have a group project and that we need to meet for an hour or so." -Sabrina said.

"I'm sure if you tell them that, they'll let you out. After all, it'll just be for an hour." -Marinette said.

"You can count on me. But let me just warn you, that I'll have to take the twins with me." -Alya reminded her.

"But, how are we going to be able to talk at will, with the two of them listening?" -Chloe asked. –"We can't risk them finding out who we really are." -she said, concerned.

"Don't worry about it. I might have a secret weapon." -Marinette told her.

"What secret weapon, Marinette?" -Sabrina asked her.

"You'll see…" -Marinette smiled at them.

After the girls left, Marinette helped around the house, by washing everything she and the girls had dirtied, as well as vaccuming and dusting her bedroom and the living room. The hardest part was to wash the towels that she had placed on the beds when Chloe and Sabrina first arrived, which were all dirty with all kinds of garbage stains, without her mom realizing it. Still, waiting for the right moment to do it, her patience paid off, when her mom went out to buy some groceries they needed. Stuffing the towels in the washing machine, she made sure to set it in the strongest progam, with a good amount of soap and a couple of other stain-removing products, to make sure the stains came out. Once that was done, she took a few moments to just sit on the couch and relax for a little bit. Checking the time on the closk that was on the wall, she saw that her secret weapon would be arriving in about 50 minutes, and that weapon was none other than the sweet, yet mischievous little girl Marinette loved to babysit, Manon Chamack.

"Manon and her mom will arrive soon. I've got to finish cleaning up, before they arrive." -Marinette said, as she forced herself to get up from the couch, sighing. –"What I wouldn't give for an extra bit of energy to do this." -she said, feeling slightly exhausted. –"Oh, Tikki, at least when I had you around, not only you gave me a little bit more of energy with your powers, but I also had someone to talk to when I was cleaning up the house."

The night before, she tried to be strong for Chloe, who had lost her miraculous and her kwami, but right then, she too was feeling a little down. Knowing that Tikki was inside the ladybug miraculous upstairs in her room, and all that she had to do was to put them on and she would be able see her again, was the worst kind of torture for her. She knew that if she did it, she would put herself in risk. Still, that did not diminish the pain she was feeling right then. But she tried to keep those thoughts out of her head, by focusing on the work she still had to do. Dusting the living room, and cleaning the windows, she had just finished cleaning the last window, when the washing machine beeped, warning her that the towels were ready. Wasting no time, she hurried to put it outside to dry. There was some wind, which was just what she needed for them to dry even faster.

With the last of her chores done, she sat on the couch, only to jump from it the very next second, when she heard the bell ringing. Looking at the clock, it was still a little early to be Manon and her mother, so she assumed it was Sabine, who needed help with the groceries. This thought proved to be right, when she opened the door, and she saw her mom carrying several bags. Like always, Sabine had brought half of the supermarket with her, and now it was up to Marinette to get everything in its proper place.

"Let me guess, you found a couple of bargains that you just couldn't resist, were there, mom?" -Marinette asked, as she emptied the bags.

"Just a few… tell me, did Nadja showed up with Manon yet?" -Sabine asked Marinette.

"Not yet, but they should be showing up in a couple of minutes." -Marinette said, as she grabbed two cans of beans and placed them in the pantry. –"If you need to go and help dad downstairs, you can go. I'll finish putting these in the pantry for you."

"You will? Oh, thanks, honey." -Sabine said, as she walked to Marinette and kissed her on the cheek. –"Sometimes I wonder what I would do without you, you know?" -she told her.

"Well, you'd probably need else to help around the house, that's for sure." -Marinette chuckled. –"Go on, I'll finish this, and then I'll get ready ro receive Manon and her mom." -she declared.

"Alright. And remember, if you need anything…"

"I know, mom. I'll just go downstairs and call you." -Marinette told her with a smile. –"Don't worry, this isn't my first rodeo with Manon." -she said, as Sabine closed the door, while heading down to the bakery.

Shortly after she finished stashing everything her mom had bought, the doorbell rang, and Marinette knew exactly who was ringing. Opening it, she was surprised by Manon who jumped into her arms, while saying "Best babysitter in the world!", over and over. As always, Marinette was happy to see the little girl. Right behind her was her mom, Nadja Chamack, one of Paris' most famous and important journalists and reporters.

"Good morning, Marinette."

"Good morning, Mrs. Chamack. How are you?" -Marinette asked her with a smile, as Manon kept hugging her.

"With a lot of work on my hands. I wish I could stay and talk to you and your mom for a bit, but I have to run." -Nadja answered her. –"I'll pick up Manon by six o'clock. She already ate, and please, don't give her any sweets today. She misbehaved yesterday in school, and she has to learn her lesson. Only good girls deserve sweets and candy, isn't that right, Manon?" -she asked her daughter.

"Yes, mommy…" -Manon said, as the smile she had on her face disappeared.

"Don't you worry. I won't give her a single grain of sugar." -Marinette told her, as Nadja kissed Manon and goodbye and left. Now alone, Marinette looked Manon in the eyes, and asked her why she had been a bad girl. –"Misbehaving in school, Manon? What did you do, you little rascall?" -she asked her with a playful voice.

"It wasn't my fault, Marinette! Isabella wanted to use the red crayon to paint a pig, but I told her that pigs aren't red, they're pink, but she said that she had seen a red pig, and I called her liar, and then she kicked me, so I kicked her too and…"

"Okay, okay, I get it, Manon." -Marinette told her, giggling lightly, as she placed her on the ground. –"You're right, pigs are pink, not red. But maybe she saw a pig who had a red sweater." -she playfully told her.

"Pigs don't wear sweaters, Marinette!" -Manon chuckled.

"Maybe, maybe not… but that doesn't matter. When I heard you were misbehaving, I thought you had done something really bad. Though what you did isn't eactly good either." -Marinette told her.

"So… does that mean you're going to give me a cookie or a lollipop?" -Manon asked her, shyly, hoping she would ignore her mother's request.

"No, your mom told me not to give you any sweets, and that's exactly what I'm going to do. Sorry, Manon, but you need to learn your lesson." –Marinette told her with a stern look on her face, only for this one to melt right away, and seeing her with a bright smile on her face, as she looked at the little girl. –"But I'll tell you what, I've got something way better than any candy or sweet for you?"

"What? What?!" -Manon asked her, excited about it.

"How about… a Miraculous Team mission?" -Marinette asked her with a mischievous smile on her face.

"A mission?! Oh boy, oh boy! A mission!" -Manon exclaimed, jumping out of joy, before realizing, she did not know what a mission was. –"Uh… Marinette, what is a mission?" -she asked her.

"Oops, I forgot that you don't know what a mission is." -Marinette chuckled, making Manon chuckle as well. –"Well, a mission is sort of a secret task, something super important that needs to be done, and I'm asking you to do it. Do you want to do it?"

"Yes!" -Manon said. –"Does it mean I get to go with you to fight bad guys, when you're Ladybug?!" -the little girl asked her, excited about the idea.

"No, Manon, I'm sorry, that's not the case. Maybe some other time." -Marinette told her, though she would never take Manon on a mission. It was too risky and dangerous.

"Oh… I haven't seen you or any of the other heroes saving the city, you know? Except for Antelope, Queen Bee and Louve Grise… what happened? And where is Tikki? I want to say hello to her." -Manon asked, having noticed Tikki's absence. The other times, the ladybug kwami would jump out of nowhere and give her a hug.

"I'm afraid that Tikki isn't here today." -Marinette said in a serious voice. –"And, she'll only be able to come back, if you help me with this misson, you know?"

"Is she alright?! Is she sick?!" -Manon asjed her, clearly worried about the kwami's well-being.

"No, she's not sick, Manon. But she can't come home to me, because there's something very dangerous going on. And the same is happening to the other kwamis, and the only way to make sure that it's safe for them to come home, is if you help me and my friends." -Marinette told her. –"So, tell me, can I count on you? Are you going to fulfil the promise you made to all of us and Master Fu, when ou became a keeper of our secret?"

"Yes!" -Manon smiled. She did not know what Marinette was going to ask her to do, but she knew that she wanted Tikki and the other kwamis to come back, so they could help Marinette and the others to protect the city, but also, for her to play with them, whenever she had the chance.

"Okay, then. Let me tell you what your important mission is going to be." -the blue-haired girl said, as she sat on the couch, followed by Manon, who was paying attention to every word she was saying.

Marinette quickly explained to Manon that she and the rest of her friends were going to meet after lunch to talk something very important. But to do so, no one could hear them out, and that's where Manon's mission began. She would have to make sure that Ella and Etta would not hear a single word from thatconversation, and to do that, she would have to keep them busy, by playing with them. She also added that besides the twins, Nino's little brother, Chris was also going to be there, and that she would also need to keep him busy. Marinette had texted Nino to bring him, just in case he was babysitting him, which he was that afternoon.

"Do you understand what you have to do? It's very important that you understand." -Marinette asked her. Of course, she knew that was not really important, she just needed to play with them, until they had all finished talking. But still, she knew that if Manon felt like she was doing something really important, she would be happier, and she would also feel like she was part of the team.

"Yes. I'll play with them and keep them busy, while you and your friends talk." -Manon waved her. –"But, what are you going to talk about?"

"Well, I can't tell you… not yet, at least." -Marinette told her.

"But you promise you'll tell me everything later, right?" -Manon asked her. She really wanted to know what was going on, but knew Marinette was not going to tell her, just from looking her in the eyes. The way her eyes looked, it was the same way they looked, whenever she transformed into Ladybug and she had something important to tell her.

"When all of this is over, I promise I'll tell you everything, Manon. I swear." -Marinette smiled at her.

"Pinkie swear it!" -Manon chuckled.

"Okay… cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." -Marinette said, mimicking Pinkie Pie's promise, which Manon knew so well, making her laugh. –"There. Anything else you want me to do?"

"No." -Manon giggled.

"Okay. Well, we still have a little time before meeting up with the others, so, what do you want to do before we go?" -Marinette asked Manon.

"Can you tell me what happened when you defeated the Halloween akuma with the plushies you made of you and the rest of the heroes, please?" -Manon answered her.

"Oh, Manon, but I already told you how I did that, along the others, a thousand times." -Marinette sighed. She had told her that story more times than she could remember, but it seemed the little girl just loved to hear her telling it.

"Just once more, please!" -Manon begged her, putting on her baby-doll eyes.

Oh, okay, I guess one more time won't hurt. Come on." -Marinette said, heading to her bedroom.

"Yeah! You're the best, Marinette!" -Manon exclaimed, following her.

* * *

Nearing the hour, they had agreed to meet up, Marinette, accompanied by Manon, left, telling her parents that she was taking Manon to the park and would be back in an hour or two. The weather was bit chilly, so Marinette made sure to wear one of her warmest jackets, as well as making Manon put the jacket her mother had left for her, before leaving. Looking at the time, she knew that at that time, the underground was the best choice for them to get to the meeting point, withtout any hitches. Even not being rush hour, the underground looked quite busy. After buying the tickets, the two rushed to get into one of the carriages, before the doors shut.

"Just in the nick of time, right, Manon?" -Marinette asked the little girl in a playful tone.

"Right!" -Manon giggled.

As the train moved, so did Marinette's train of thought, as she wondered on what they were going to talk about, when they were all together. She knew that Chloe and Sabrina's encounter with the Collector was going to be main topic of conversation, with the two of them answering any questions the others would have for them. But she also knew that other topics would be talked… she just wished she knew which ones, so she could prepare herself, because she knew she would most likely need to be the moderator, along with someone else in the group, who would be willing to do it. Still, she tried to remain positive, telling herself that this was just a conversation between a group of friends.

" _It will all work out, Marinette. You'll see._ " -Marinette thought to herself.

The place they had agreed to meet was a park near the Agreste Manor, after Adrien suggested it. Initially, someone suggested that they should meet at the manor, but he said that while his dad was out of town, and he had the house all for himself, Nathalie was also keeping an eye on him, as per his dad's request. If he would ask her to have the whole class there, even if it was just for an hour or so, without asking his dad first, she would not authorize it. And so, the park would have to be. Exiting the underground, Marinette told Manon that they had to pick up the pace, or else they were going to be late. Seeing that the little one was starting to show some signs of tiredness from all that running, she decided to grab her and carry her on her back.

"I can run, Marinette." -Manon protested, though deep down, she did not mind being carried that way.

"I know you can, Manon, but we're running late. And this way, you'll have a little bit more of energy to play when we get there." -Marinette said, as she picked up the pace.

After five more minutes of walking, they arrived at the park, and Marinette was surprised by being the first one to arrive. Looking for a place where they could all gather, she found it, upon seeing an old bandstand, where there was no one. Stopping in front of it, she put Manon on the ground, just before texting the others, telling them that she had arrived, and was waiting for them. A few seconds later, she received a response form Alya and Nino, who told her that they would be arriving in a few minutes. The others also texted her back, saying that they were on their way, or that they would be ther shortly. Sating on the bandstand, Marinette watched over Manon, who had grabbed a stick and was now drawing a game of hopscotch, while also waiting.

The first one to arrive was none other than Adrien, which did not surprise Marinette. After all, he lived just a few streets from there. Being the first one, also gave her the chance to chat a little with him. She had been gathering the courage to talk with him, whenever they were alone, over the past few months. Sure, they talked a lot when on patrol, but in Marinette's mind, having a mask over their faces did help a little, especially because when she was Ladybug, she was not so clumsy or so shy, as she was when she was just plain old Marinette. Waving at him, he immediately waved back at her.

"Hey, there!" -Adrien said, as he approached.

"Hey, Adrien. Uh… is that your bodyguard over there?" -Marinette asked him, pointing out to the big guy, who had just hidden behind a van.

"Yeah… I couldn't get rid of Gorilla today." -Adrien said, calling him by the nickname he had given him. –"Still, as long as he keeps standing where he is, and not approach us, I don't mind having him around." -he said. Adrien was not a big fan of having a bodyguard, especially since the Gorilla did not utter a single word, unless when needed. The boy knew his job was to make sure he was alright, but Adrien himself, felt that he could take care of himself. In fact, if the Gorilla knew that he was secretly one of the superheroes that protected that city, he would not even bother to stand guard, always with a watchful eye. –"But never mind him. Hey, Manon!"

"Hello!" -Manon waved at Adrien, before resuming playing hopscotch.

"So, how was the sleepover? Did Chloe give you any trouble?" -Adrien asked her, knowing that Chloe could be a handful, when nervous, scared or in a bad mood, and after what happened to her, he would not be surprised if that had been the case.

"Actually, no. Eveerything went alright, and I can say that last night, I think… no, I definitely saw a side of Chloe that I never thought she would have." -Marinette admitted. –"You know when you think you know a person, just from looking at her and spending some time with her, but it turns out that she's completely different? Well, that was her last night. And I'm not saying that she has always been this way, especially because we know that a little before this school year started, she decided to become a better person, after feeling that none of us really considered her a friend and all… anyways, what I'm trying to say is that, beneath all that she sometimes looks on the outside, she's got a heart of gold." -she said.

"You're right. She's a bit like an onion. You have to peel a couple of layers, until you reach its center… or in this case, the real Chloe." -Adrien agreed with her. –"You know, the way she's behaving with everyone right now, that's how she used to be, when we were little. So, it's nice to see her acting like again."

"Maybe that's why you were always so patient and so supportive of her, even when you saw her being mean and nasty to everyone." -Marinette said. She was going to ask him if he knew why she had become that horrible person she was, when they met a few years before, but decided not to. Still, Adrien noticed it, and decided to ask her.

"Uh, were you going to ask me something? I'm just asking, because I got this feeling that you were." -Adrien said.

"Oh, I was going to ask you something, regarding Chloe, but I think I don't have the right to ask you that, especially if it's about something personal. I would be breaking any kind of confidence that exists between us now." -Marinette told him. –"I'll just have to wait for the right opportunity to ask her." -she said.

Hearing her say that, Adrien smiled. Once again, Marinette was demonstrating wisdom and care way beyond her years, something he admired in her. He was about to say somethimg, when he spotted Ivan and Mylene arriving. Waving at them, the couple picked up the pace to join them. About 30 seconds later, Kim showed up, and in the next 10 minutes, the rest of the gang showed up, with Alya brigning the twins with her, and Nino, his little brother Chris. Chloe and Sabrina were the last ones to arrive. Looking at them, they both seemed a little nervous, especially the blonde, who looked a little down. Once they were all there, Marinette signalled Manon it was time for her mission to start. The little girl quickly envited the twins and Chris to come and play with her, leaving Marinette and the others free to talk at will. Still, Marinette warned them that they would be watching them, and that they were not to go where they could not see them.

"Okay, now that we're all here, I know that a lot of you want to ask questions to both Chloe and Sabrina about what happened yesterday, but before you do, I think they will want to tell us all what happened, isnt' that right girls?" -Marinette asked Sabrina and Chloe, who both waved theirs heads, as they all sat in a circle. –"Well, when you're ready…"

A couple of moments of silence between them passed, before Sabrina began to tell them what happened. She had just finished telling them that it had been Chloe's idea to help put out the fire, when the blonde also joined in, telling them the plan was to put out the fire and get out of there as quick as possible, but that in the end, they had not been fast enough and the Collector showed up, and they were forced to fight him. Everyone was hanging on the girls' words, as they told the whole story, without sparing on the details. Everyone, except maybe Marinette and Alya, who had heard the story before, and were keeping an eye on the little kids, as they played tag.

Hearing the girls' story, all of them were shocked, amazed and scared. They were shocked because they never thought the Collector's assaults would be that violent, with him not caring if he killed anyone in the process. They were amazed because the two of them were able to stand up against him, and even though Chloe lost her miraculous in the process, she did not hesitate in putting herself in harm's way, just to protect the Sabrina from a fire ball, which knocked her out. They were also amazed by Sabrina's fighting spirt, who after seeing Chloe down, did not fall back and went up against the villain with everything she had, even if that meant dying there. And of course, they were scared, because all of them could be victims of the Collector, if things went south.

"Whoa… you went up against him, even knowing you had very little chances of getting out of that encounter alive, and even less to defeat him?" -Ivan asked them, still trying to process everything they had said, in his mind.

"We've got a couple of bruises on our ribs and legs to prove it." -Chloe said grimly. Though Master Fu had managed to cure them, because they were not wearing their miraculouses, whose power allowed them to cure themselves a lot faster, the bruises they had were going to take a little longer to disappear. Luckily, the weather was still quite chilly, and they had an excuse to wear clothes that covered those same bruises. –"The guy is incredibly strong… probably… no, definitely stronger than you. We kept hitting him with everything we had, and he did not even attempt to flinch." -she said.

"She even ended up with a broken arm. Like we said, we tried to give him the slip, but he was just too fast." -Sabrina said. –"And in the end, we were just lucky we got out of there… and if it wasn't for that cat, who showed up when we were hiding in the garbage bin, and made him think that it was just that, a cat, raoming around it, we would've been caught, for sure." -she sighed. Once again, she realized just how close she and Chloe had been to being killed.

"Well, luck or not, you managed to get out of there in one piece." -Nino smiled, happy to see them there with them.

"Putting yourself in front of a fire ball, just to protect Sabrina… who are you, and what did you do to the real Chloe Bourgeois, who only cared about herself?" -Mylene playfully asked the blonde, who responded with a mild smile. –"It took a lot of courage to do that, and I know what I'm talking about. You're really brave, Chloe, and so are you, Sabrina." -she smiled to them.

"Thanks, Mylene." -Chloe said. –"Still, if it wasn't for Sabrina, I would probably not be here, right now." -she said, while looking at the redhead, who smiled.

"He kept throwing you girls against a wall, and you kept getting up, just to face him… that's pretty hardcore." -Alix said. In her life, she never thought she would say that about someone like Chloe, but here she was. The blonde had clearly changed, and it was time for her to finally admit that. Almost everyone in their group had given Chloe a chance to prove that she had changed, but she was one of the few who still had a few issues about the subject, sometimes still not trusting the blonde. From that moment on, she would see her as she truly was, a changed person, who cared about others. –"You two showed a lot of guts, by putting on your miraculouses to help out someone, even knowing the risks and for going to … unlike a certain someone, who decided to put on his miraculous, just because he was bored." -she said, while looking at Kim.

"Hey, I thought we had put that to rest!" –Kim exclaimed to Alix. As always, the two were bickering with one another. If one did not know, the way they kept arguing, they would say that they were either boyfriend and girlfriend, or brother and sister.

"Guys, come on, let's not start a fight because of that. Besides, Kim is already being punished for what he did. I don't think we need to throw that to his face again and again." -Adrien said.

"Adrien's right. Let's just be happy that Chloe and Sabrina are alive and well." -Rose said, smiling.

"That's right, what's done is done. There's no point in dwelling the past." -Marinette said. –"And Rose's right, let's just be happy that Chloe and Sabrina are here with us, safe and sound." -she smiled.

After that, some of them asked the girls a couple fo questions regarding the Collector's moves and just how different he was from the akumas they were used to dealing with. The girls tried to answer every question as best as they could, though some of the questions, they could not answer, because they did not know how.

"So, did he use all his powers on you?" -Ivan asked them.

"Not that we know of." -Sabrina said. –"I mean, I'm pretty sure he used at least three or four of his powers, like superspeed, inhuman strength, fire manipulation and telekinesis, but I'm not so sure about the others." -she said.

"Yeah, we were a little busy, trying to stay alive. Though, he might have used teleportation or something similar. That's the only way he could have escaped our combined attack." -Chloe said.

"I don't think so. As I recall, he can't teleport himself… but superspeed can easily be mistaken with teleportation, if the one moving, moves so fast that your eyes can't keep up with its speed." -Max explained.

"And he can also become invisible. Did he become invisible?" -Juleka asked them. From all the powers they knew the Collector had, that one was the one she feared the most, because as she saw it, there was nothing more dangerous than an enemy you cannot see coming.

"I don't think so… but like Chloe said, we were a little busy trying to stay alive. But he could have become invisible to sneak up on us, while we were on the air, I don't know." -Sabrina said.

At the same time, Marinette left Alya in charge of moderating the conversation, if there was the need to do it, and went to check on Manon and the rest of the kids, to see if they were all having fun. They had stopped playing tag, and were now playing hide and seek, and Manon was the seeker. The blue-haired girl observed the game in silence, so as to not disturb it. She saw where the twins and Chris were hiding, and knew it was only a matter of time, until Manon found them out. The question was if Manon would be able to spot them. And the answer came shortly after, with Manon finding the three of them, and playfully crowning herself "queen of hide and seek". Watching them, Marinette could not help but to feel a little jealous of the youngsters and just how carefree they were. They did not have a care in the world, while she and her friends had a problem of huge proportions over their shoulders. She wished she could just go back to being Manon's age, when the only thing she had to worry about was what cartoons she was going to watch after coming home from school, and what plushie she was going to sleep with.

" _Since when do you think like mom, Marinette? The way you're thinking rght not, make you sound like you're almost 40 years old._ " -Marinette chuckled to herself, as she looked at Manon and the others, who were about to start a new game of hide and seek, this time with Etta as the seeker.

Back on the bandstand, the conversation went on, now with the team asking themselves if after what happened with Kim, Chloe and Sabrina, if they even stood a chance against the Collector, if he decided to show up. The fear was real. They had never faced an enemy such as him. Even Hawk Moth did not look so powerful, when compared to him. Of course, Hawk Moth relied on his lieutenants and on his akumatized victims to take care of them, while the Collector took matters into his own hands, and that, made him twice as more dangerous to the heroes' eyes. Still, there was one or two of them, who believed in the old saying "Together, we are stronger".

"Look, I'm not saying that this guy is unbeatable, but you've seen what happened when we battle every akuma that Hawk Moth throws at us." -Nino told them.

"I'm not saying that's not true, but how are we even supposed to battle a guy who's got all those powers?" -Juleka asked him. –"We're more than him and we all have multiple powers and all, but we still haven't been able to master them, while that guy has mastered his, and he doesn't have any problem in killing us. Oh, and we're two members short. Things are not exactly looking good for us." -she said.

"Hate to say it, but Juleka's right. We can't fight this guy yet… not until we find a way to contain him. Because if we can't contain him, I think we'll be forced to kill him, and I don't know about you, but killing someone, is a lot different than to just beat up and defeat someone who's been akumatized." -Rose told them. Just the idea of being forced to kill someone, even an ememy, made her feel both uncomfortable and sick at the same time. –"We're talking about someone who's not a monster that was created by Hawk Moth, like Gargantua, who was made out of ink. I don't know about you, but I can't see myself killing anything or anyone…"

"Look, nobody's going to kill anyone, okay? We're superheroes, and superheroes don't kill people, even bad guys." -Adrien said, trying to steer the conversation in a more pleasant direction. –"If superheroes killed people, then they wouldn't be heroes. I can't imagine Superman breaking Lex Luthor's neck, or Batman strangling the Joker, or Spider-Man throwing the Green Goblin from the top of Empire State Building, and well, I can go on quoting examples the rest of the day if you want to." -he said.

"Adrien's right, we're heroes, not killers." -Chloe said, supporting her longtime friend. –"And… well, we'll find a to defeat this guy and get the miraculouses that he has taken from us." -she said, remembering about the promise Marinette had made to her. –"Master Fu will find a way to help us to defeat this monster."

"That's true. We can't lose sight of what we have to do, but we can't lose sight of what we are. Plus, it's like Chloe said, Master Fu will find a way to help us out." -Nathaniel said, reminding them of that fact. –"By the way, has he found a way to magically contain him, or strip him of his powers, Max?" -he asked him, since he was the one who had been spending more time with the old master lately, helping him with his research.

"We're getting near… or, at least Master Fu thinks we are getting near." -Max declared. –"I don't' want to give you any false hope, but I believe that if there is a way to trap the Collector, we're going to find it very soon." -he said.


	18. The Solution

The rest of the weekend went by in a flash, and the next thing you know, it was Monday, and the whole gang was back in school, listening to Miss Bustier, who was impressed with the results on their exams. But more impressed were the stundents, who had thought they had not done very well in them, because of what had been happening to them. Still, they were not ones to complain about it. Good grades meant no recovery tests, less homework and, and better yet, it meant that their parents would not give them a hard time, telling them that they should study more often, instead of spending time hanging out with their friends. Plus, with the amount of stress and trouble they had on their shoudlers right then, it felt good to know that they would not have to add a problem regarding bad grades to their list of current problems. 

Still, the biggest problem they had right then, was yet to be solved. They had been waiting for news from Master Fu, but not even a text they got from him. They knew he was doing his best to come up with a soluton to take down the Collector, but the wait was killking them. They were finding themselves praying for a miracle to happen. But only that, they were praying that this would all come to an end, as soon as possible, so they could put on their miraculouses, without fearing something to happen to them while wearing them.

“I see that you have been studying.” -Miss Bustier smiled at her students. –“Even those of you whose grades were a little above your previous ones, managed to get excellent grades. I’m so proud of you all.” -she said. She was not going to say it to her students, but on that day, she was going to be able to brag about their grades to Miss Mendeleiv, who was always telling her that her students’ grades were better than hers.

“Does that mean you’re going to give us the rest of the day off, and we can go home earlier, Miss Bustier?” -Kim asked her in a playful tone, though deep inside, he wanted that to happen.

“No, Kim, I’m sorry, but I can’t do that. It would set a bad example for every other student in this school.” -Miss Bustier said with a silly smile on her face. –“But, that doesn’t mean you won’t get a little reward for your efforts.”

“What kind of reward, Miss Bustier?” -Juleka asked her

“I was thinking that we could either have a nice class outside, or watch a movie.”

“With this weather? I don’t think so, Miss Bustier.” -Alya said, as she pointed out the window, where you could see dark clouds getting closer and closer, carrying rain. The whole scene was like a bad omen, waiting to happen.   

“Well, in certain places in Russia, where it’s always snowing, they would consider this weather the equivalent to a sunny day.” -Miss Bustier giggled, to the surprise of her students, who were not accostumed to hear their teacher cracking jokes. –“What? Just because I’m a teacher, does that mean that I can’t crack a joke?” -she giggled.

“Of course not, Miss Bustier… it’s just that, we’re not really used to see this side of yours.” -Rose smiled. The truth was they did not even know their teacher had a sense of humor. They were so used to seeing her as this sort of second mother, who was always there for them, who was always supportive of them and who had taught them to always see the bright side of things, even when things did not look so bright.

“Well, then in the near future, I’ll try to show you this side of mine a little more often. And I’ll do it, whenever you all surprise me.” -Miss Bustier smiled tenderly. –“Now, how about that movie? Do you still want to watch it?”

“What movie is it, Miss Bustier?” -Mylene asked, curious.

“Tell me it’s not a girly movie, please!” -Kim begged her.

“And what if it is, Kim?! You don’t hear us girls complain of every time you boys watch a movie filled with nothing but car chases, girls in bikini and lame one-liners.” -Alix shot at him. –“If we girls have to watch those movies, why shouldn’t you watch a movie that has a lot more feeling than those other movies?” -she asked him.

“Oh, please, Alix, you like girly movies as much as me… which is the equivalent to zero!” –Kim told her.

“That’s not the point, Kim! The point is that there are people, even boys, who like to watch girly movies!” -Alix told him, determined to get that information into his thick skull, even if she had to shout at him for a whole hour.

“Now, now, people, let’s not start a fight.” -Miss Bustier told them, while clapping her hands, as she usually did, when trying to appease the moods. As a teacher, she was used to doing this, and when it came to Alix and Kim, she already knew that once they began fighting, she had to be quick to act, before things escalated. –“It’s true that that there are movies that are made for a more specific audience, but that doesn’t mean that people outside of that targeting audience can’t enjoy it. And a boy liking a movie that was made for a more female audience, isn’t a bad thing, just like a girl liking a movie that was made for a more male audience isn’t a bad thing either.” -she told them, ending that fight between the two. –“And for your information, no it’s not a girly movie, Kim. Just like it’s not an action movie either. It’s a movie that I think you’re all going to enjoy watching, or rewatching, if you have already seen it before.”

“Come on, Miss Bustier, you’re killing us with the suspense! What movie is it?” -Alya asked her.

“Let me give you all a clue. It takes place right here, in our city.” -Miss Bustier said. It was not much to go on, but at least it would exclude all other movies that did not take place in Paris. Unfortunately, the number on that list was still too high, for any of them to try and guess it.

“Please, that’s too vague, Miss Bustier.” -Sabrina said. –“Give us another clue.” -she begged her.

“Okay, one more clue… its story revolves around a boy and a girl.” -Miss Bustier declared.

Even with that second clue, trying to guess what movie was it, was still too hard. The clues were too vague to truly help.

“Please, Miss Bustier, give us a real clue. One that helps us identifying it, instead of confusing us even further.” -Juleka begged her.

“Well, alright… one more clue, but this is the last one.” -Miss Bustier smiled. –“Most of its action takes place in one of the famous train stations in this city.” -she said.

With those three clues, the whole class tried to figure out what was the movie their teacher was going to show them. Though the last clue was a specific one, the other two were too general to help them narrowing down the hypotheses. Most of them liked cinema and enjoyed watching movies, but from them, only or two of them had a broader knowledge on the subject. They all tried to guess it, but every answer they gave, Miss Bustier just told them that was either “too cold”, or “getting warmer” to the right answer.  

“ _If it’s not “Amelie”, like Mylene said… then, it can only be this one! I mean, there aren’t that many movies that take place in train stations in Pari, so it’s got to be it._ ” -Marinette thought to herself. –“Is it by chance, “Hugo”, Miss Bustier?”

“That is correct; Marinette.” -Miss Bustier smiled, after hearing the correct answer.

“Nice one, milady.” -Adrien said, while turning back his head and blinking an eye at Marinette, making her blush lightly. 

“So, we’re going to watch that movie?” -Rose asked. She had watched the movie before, and thought it had a very beautiful and heartwarming story.

“Yes, we are, Rose. I thought it would be appropriate, since we’re closing in on the anniversary of George Meliès’s death, whom we are going to briefly study, along with his contributions to the French society in the beginning of the 20th century, next month.” -Miss Bustier said.

“And, are we entitled to some popcorn?” -Max asked.

“I’m afraid not, Max. Remember, this is a classroom, not a movie theatre.” -Miss Bustier joked. –“I hope you all enjoy it, because after lunch, we’re going to spend the last hour of class, correcting the tests on the blackboard.” -she said, as she turned off the light in the classroom.

* * *

Watching a movie in class, instead of going through numerous slide presentations, was one of the best things it can happen to a student, while in school. It is a moment where one can just sit back, relax and enjoy a couple of hours of entertainment, without having to worry if the teacher is going to ask him to come to the blackboard to answer a question in fornt of the class.

But, as fun and relaxing as their class was that morning, it was not fun or relaxing enough to make the Miraculous Heroes forget about the problem they had on their hands. The pressure of thinking that at any given moment, Hawk Moth could show up and launch one of his akumas against the city and its inhabitants, and they would either have to put on their miraculouses and fight the akuma, while most likely having to deal with the Collector, who was just waiting for them to show up, or just keep a low profile and let their main enemy take over the city, and quite possibly the country, just to make sure the Collector would not get his hands on their miraculouses.

But, as fate would have it, something good happened during lunch hour. They all arrived at the cafeteria, where it was business as usual, and even more so that day, because of the rain, which began pouring an hour earlier. Because of it, some of the students who liked to have lunch outside, were forced to stay indoors that day, and that made it a little     had all just placed their trays down on the table, and were about to start eating, when suddenly their cell phones rang, warning them that they had received a text message. At first, they all thought it was just junk mail, because it was not the first time one company sent a text to everyone, at the same time, advertising their business or some once in a life time opportunity, that one could not miss. But then, as they picked up their cells, they all saw it was not junk mail. It was a simple message from the person they wanted to receive a message from, Master Fu.               

“Good news. Come to my house, after school, if you can.” -they all read the text the old master had sent them.

“Good news? Do you think…” -Mylene asked.

“That he managed to find a way to trap the Collector?” -Ivan finished her sentence. –“I hope so.”

“Well, he wouldn’t have written good news, if he hadn’t, or if he bad news for us.” -Chloe stated.

“You don’t know that.” -Alya said. –“But, usually people don’t write good news, instead of bad news, when they want to tell bad news to someone.” -she said.

“Unless it was a typo… let’s hope it wasn’t.” -Rose said, as she tried to get that thought out of her mind.

“Come on, we’re all a little stressed about this. But let’s not panic, okay? Remember, the text says “good news” and not just “news” or “bad news”, so let’s just calm a little bit, have lunch and then, after school, let’s go to Master Fu’s place and find out what he has for us.” -Marinette told them.  

“Marinette’s right, let’s just calm down and eat, for the time being.” -Alya said, as she turned her attention to the lasagne in her plate.

* * *

After classes ended, most of the gang went straight to Master Fu’s place to find out what were the good news he had texted them about. The only ones not able to go were Adrien, who had fencing practice that afternoon, and Rose, who had ballet lessons that afternoon as well. Still, they all promised them, they would keep them posted.

What it had started as a little rain, had evolved into a flood, with the water drenching the streets of Paris. When they exited the school, it was raining so much, that they had to wait for the rain to stop momentarily, before making their way to the underground, as to catch it, and get to Master Fu’s house. They had heard it was going to rain that day, but because weather forecasting is not an exact science, they did not bring a raincoat or an umbrella with them. The only ones who had brought one of those objects were Juleka, who had brought an umbrella, and Nathaniel, who had remembered to grab his raincoat, just as he was leaving home. Usually, they would go on foot, but with that rain, and with most of them not having an umbrella or a raincoat that would protect them from the rain, they would most likely catch a pneumonia, before they got there. And because of the rain, just like it happened in the cafeteria at lunch, the underground was absolutely crowded, with people trying to get to their destinations, while also trying to avoid the rain. Entering one of the carriages, they all felt like sardines in a can, as more people behind them entered. When the doors closed, they all began counting the seconds, until they reached their stop, which was three stations ahead. And if getting in the carriage was no picnic, then, getting off was practically the same thing. They were forced to push people, asking them to let them through. Managing to get out, they gasped for air, while making their way to the surface, where it had stopped raining momentarily.

“This could be a good omen of what’s to come.” -Mylene thought to herself.

Picking up the pace, they all kept looking up into the sky, hoping it would not start to rain. For more than once, they felt a few raindrops falling on their heads, and that just gave them one more reason to walk faster to their destination. Once they arrived at Master Fu’s place, the old man welcomed them and told them to come in and make themselves at home. As always, the old master’s living room was too small for such a big group of people, but they did not mind it. They were too eager with what the old man was going to tell them, to even care about it. They just wanted to hear if that nightmare they had been living for the past weeks was about to come to an end, or not. Taking a seat, they remained in silence, waiting for Master Fu to sit in front of them. At first, he wanted to take them to Garden of the Ancients, but he feared that teleporting so many people there, could perhaps leave a trace of magical energy, powerful enough that it could attract the Collector. Of course, he did not know not if the Collector could sense his magic, or the magic from act of teleportation, but he did not want to risk finding out, which was why he himself, over the previous two weeks, only visited the site whenever he felt it was absolutely necessary, bringing with him as many books as he could, to continue his investigation. Once he sat in front of them, they were about to bombard him with questions, when he silently told them to hold any questions they might have, and to let him talk first. Taking a deep breath, the old master spoke:

“I think you know why I called you here.”

“Yes.” -they all answered in chorus.

“You did manage to find the spell that they used to trap the Collector back then, didn’t you, master?” -Alya asked him.

“Yes, and no.” -Master Fu said. –“Yes, I did find a spell that I think will trap the Collector, but it’s not the one they used before.” -he declared.

It was a rather bitter sweet answer, and they did not know what to make of it, or, how to react to it. On one end, they had heard Master Fu saying he did not find the spell that was once used to trap the Collector, while on the other, they heard that he had found a similar spell that he believed would do the trick.   

“When you say that you think it will trap him, how sure of it are you? I mean, what are the odds of it working?” -Nino asked him.

“Well, before I answer you that, I have to make a confession. The spell that serves as the foundation of the enclosure ritual is not powerful enough on its own.”

If what they heard before had not made them feel unsure and scared, then, those last words from Master Fu made them feel like when someone is told to remain calm, but instead, it just makes him or her even more nervous than before. Still, none spoke a word at first, and tried to remain calm.

“W-What does that mean, master?” -Marinette asked him, while trying not to show just how nervous, just like her friends, she was.

“It means that in order for me to trap the Collector, first, you must weaken him enough, for the ritual to work.” -Master Fu declared.

“And, how are we going to do that?” -Ivan asked him. –“Do we punch him until he starts begging for mercy?” -he asked, a little unsure of what to say in a case like that.

“Well, you can try and punch him, but I don’t think he will beg for mercy, Ivan.” -Master Fu answered him, with a chuckle in his voice. –“No, I was thinking of a different kind of approach. One that will require a second spell.”

“A second spell, master?” -Sabrina asked, puzzled.

“Yes, and if you let me, I will explain everything.”

Listening carefully, Master Fu explained to them that the whole ritual depended on the use of that second spell. It was a spell which when used, it could remove magical artifacts from a person, even if those artifacts were magically attached to the person in question.

“Okay, I get it that we can use that spell to remove the miraculouses he took from us, from the belt they are in now. But what else are we supposed to remove from him, master? How is using that spell, is going to weaken him?” –Chloe asked the old master, not understanding where he was going at.

“His armour!” -Max exclaimed, as he jumped out of his seat, scaring the others for a second.

“W-What?!” -Kim asked him, not understanding why he did that.

“His armour! Don’t you see? The Collector transformed each of the zodiac miraculouses into a piece of his set of armour. Each piece has a unique power. If we strip him from his armour, he’ll become weaker.” -Max explained. –“That’s how we’re going to weaken him!”

“Exactly. I couldn’t have said it better myself, my boy.” -Master Fu smiled.

“So, you want us to remove all of his armour?” -Nathaniel asked the old master.

“No, not all of it… just enough parts to weaken him.” -Master Fu said.

“But, how are we going to know which parts we should take, and which ones we shouldn’t, master?” -Juleka asked.

“With this.” -Master Fu declared, as he got up and went to a nearby bookshelve, where he grabbed a tablet and then placed it on the coffee table in front of the teenagers. –“The Book of Prophecies has everything that we need to know about the Collector.” -he said.  

“You have Book of Prophecies in there? You scanned it?” -Nino asked him, a little surprised.

“One must always be prepared for everything, and let us be honest, it’s a lot lighter than the real one, plus, I don’t have to carry the origianl one around with me, if I need to check it.” -Master Fu smiled. –“Here we are…” -he said, as he reached the page he was looking for. –“The Collector’s armour is made of twelve separate pieces, each one imbued with a different power. Thes ones you’re going to have to take from him are the ones that have the power of dragon, the bull, the serpent, the rabbit and the horse.”

“Then, we need to take off the ones that give him the power of combustion, superhuman strength, invisibility, superspeed and agility and cure and immortality.” -Alya said, remembering the powers that belonged to the zodiac miraculouses.

“Exactly, although, from the five of them, only two of them must be removed at all costs, for to the ritual to be performed. The removal of the other three are more of a safety precaution, because they are incredibly powerful.”

And which ones are the ones that is imperative for us to remove, master? -Mylene asked him.

“Superhman strength and cure and immortality.” -the old master answered her.

“Bull and Horse.” -Alix practically whispered.

“And what parts have those powers?” -Marinette asked.

“The breastplate is home for the power of the bull, while the plackart is home for the power of the horse. The rabbit’s power resides on both legs. The dragon power resides on the left gauntlet, and finally, the serpent’s power resides on the double-edged sword.” -Master Fu told her.

“Just one question, what’s a plackart?” -Chloe asked. She had never heard that word in her life, and the same thing could be said for most of them.

“It’s the piece of the armour that protects the abdomen, Chloe.” -Max said, which caused everyone to look at him, wondering how did he know that. –“What? I play Dark Souls, everyone who plays that videogame knows that.” -he said.  

“Everyone who plays that is also a masochist, Max.” -Alix told him in a sarcastic voice. –“Even I know that that videogame is for people who love to suffer, and I don’t even play videogames.” -she said, which earned her a couple of head nods from some of the others.

“Can we just leave our resident nerd alone, and focus on the problem we have? I want my miraculous back from that guy.” -Kim said.

“Kim’s right, we need to focus.” -Marinette said in a serious tone. –“But, how does that spell work, master? How exactly are we going to remove those parts of his armour from him?”

“The spell itself works the following way. A potion is prepared, along with a little enchantment, and the miraculouses are dipped into that potion, while the enchantment is read.” -Master Fu said. –“Once that is done, the miraculouses absorb the spell and once you transform, your hands, as well as your weapons, will allow you to break the magic bond the Collector’s body has with the armour, and rip the part of the armour that you choose.“ -he explained. –“There’s just one problem…“

“What problem, master?” -Nathaniel asked.

“The spell can only be used by a person once, which means, that once one of you uses it, that’s that.” -Master Fu admitted.

“So, we need to make our attack count, otherwise, we’re done for.” -Sabrina said in a gloomy voice.         

“Indeed.” -Master Fu said. –“But, I know that you will be able to overcome the difficulties in your path to victory, for as Sun Tzu once said, If you know the enemy and know yourself, victory will not stand in doubt.” -he said.

“We’re going to need a plan to take him out. And we only have one opportunity. If we fail, we’ll lose the element of surprise, and that can’t happen. He can’t see it coming.”-Alya said, noticing Marinette looking at her. –“Oh, sorry, girl, didn’t mean to steal the spotlight from you.”

“Just because I’m the team’s leader, that doesn’t mean you or the others can’t say stuff like that, Alya.” -Marinette told her with a smile on her face, which disappeared right after, as she put on a more serious face. –“But you’re right, he can’t see it coming, because if he does, he’ll know what we’re up to. We only have one shot to make this right.” -she said, as she turned her attention to Master Fu. –“How long do you need to prepare things, master?”

“The potion needs 24 hours to simmer. After that, I’ll just need to dip the miraculouses into it, say the enchantment and you’re good to go.” -Master Fu declared. –“As for the urn in which we will trap him, I’ll use those 24 hours the potion will take to be ready, to place the various enchantments into the urn, so as to make it strong enough to hold the Collector.” -he added.

“Then, once we have the potion ready to be used on our miraculouses, we’ll have what we need to confront him.” -Marinette said. –“Still, that itself won’t be enough. We need a place where we can set a trap for him.” -she said.

“What kind of place you’re thinking about, Marinette?” -Alya asked her.

“One where we’ll have the advantage… I don’t know where, but we must find it.” -Marinette answered him. –“Plus, it’ll have to be a place that is empty. We don’t want anyone getting hurt during the fight, or worse. The Collector won’t go down without a fight, and once he understands what we’re tying to do, I bet he won’t stop until we’re all dead on the ground.” -she said.

The mood in the room changed drastically when Marinette said those words, as if a dark cloud descended on them. She had laid out the whole situation as clearly as one could. What she and her friends had to do was not going to be an easy task, and with two team members on the bench, due to a lack of miraculous, it was going to be even harder. Still, she believed they would be victorious, if they could come up with the right plan of attack.

“ _We must come out of this victorious… there just isn’t another way._ ” -Marinette thought to herself.


	19. Setting Up the Trap

It was only 20 minutes to 9, when Marinette told her parents that she was going to bed. When asking her if everything was alright, she told them that she was just tired and needed a goodnight sleep, so she was going to sleep earlier that day. But in reality, she was going out, along with the rest of the Miraculous Team. Earlier that morning, while Master Fu concocted the potion that would allow them to remove some of the parts of the Collector’s armour, so as to weaken him, and allow the old master to seal him inside an urn, the blue-haired girl and her friends discussed how they were going to deal with the Collector. Thet spent their lunch hour going over the plan, a plan with the codename “Jackie Chan”, courtesy of Nino, who came up with the name.

(Flashback)

_Lunch hour was almost at its end and Marinette and the others still had not agreed on where they would set their trap for the Collector. Since it was not raining, they had taken their lunches with them to the rooftop, to have some privacy, while eating. But they barely touched their food. Their thoughts were all focused on their future battle against the Collector. The suggestions were plenty and all of the places suggested were good, but they were still at odds regarding it. They had all agreed that the place had to be a place they knew well enough, devoided of people and reasonably secluded, so to avoid any kind of casualties during the fight. The only thing they did not agree, was the place itself._

_“No, it can’t be on the underground tunnels. We don’t know them well enough and let us remember that we would have to wait until nearly 3 a.m., when the stations close, to be able to move freely and even then, there are always people working on the tunnels and the stations, cleaning and maintaining things, so that when they open again, everything is fully operational.” -Alya reminded them. –“That one’s off the table.”_

_“Okay, what about a museum? Those are pretty empty at night, with the exception of the night security guards. Plus, if anything gets broken or destroyed, we can use the Ampulla Amulet to restore things to their original state after the fight.” -Sabrina suggested._

_“That’s a good option, but other than the Louvre, we don’t know any other museums to pull this stunt in them. We have to know them well enough, to know the places where we can hide and all.” -Adrien said. –“Plus, we’re forgetting that we can’t just walk into a museum at night, not while we’re not transformed.” -he reminded them. –“And, we’re forgetting one thing… every museum in this city, at least the largest ones, they’re all near apartment buildings. If things get a little out of hand, we might end up carrying the fight to one of them, and…”_

_“And then people might pay the price… so that’s out of the question.” -Juleka said._

_“What about La Defense? We battled Madame Romani there, when she kidnapped Manon.” -Chloe suggested._

_“Too exposed. Last time we used Alya and Mylene’s abilities to give us the upper hand, and we managed to defeat Madame Romani. But she couldn’t sense us or see us, thanks to those abilities they used. We don’t know if the Collector can see through Alya’s illusions, or sense us if we’re invisible, thanks to Mylene’s cloaking ability.” -Marinette raised those possibilities. –“We can’t leave things to chance, not with this guy. Plus, the place we’re looking for has to have places where we can hide, if not, then we’ll be too exposed.” -Marinette said._

_“Not too exposed, familiar to most of us, with spots where we can easily hide, even if temporarily, and reasonably secluded… there aren’t many places in Paris that gather all those things we’re looking for; Marinette.” -Adrien declared. –“What about outside of Paris? We can easily go to Versailles and take him out on the palace’s gardens. Master Fu has agreed to take us wherever we want to go.” -he said, reminding them that the old master had a van big enough to fit them all in._

_“I had already thought of that, but we can’t. The palace and its gardens are going to be used for an environmental conference, courtesy of the United Nations next week, and so the place is being set up for it. We would not even be able to get close to the main gates in our civilian selves, without alerting anyone who was there at night Plus, we’d run in into innocent civillians, who could get hurt iduring our fight. We can’t lose time saving them, when we’ew battling that monster.” -Alya said. Her mother had been invited as the main chef to cook up the menu for that conference, and so, she knew the place would be out of reach._

_“How about one of the football stadiums? Those are pretty much empty, when there’s no game. We could use the Parc des Princes.” -Alix suggested the home ground of Paris Sant-Germain._

_“It’s a good idea… we do have a lot of places where we can hide, but the field is too exposed.” –Marinette stated, discarding that idea._

_“I think we’ll never find a place that suits our needs.” -Nathaniel sighed._

_It was when she heard those words from Nathaniel’s mouth, that an idea sparked in Mylene’s mind, an idea that allowed her to think of an alternative to what they were all thinking. She did not know if the others would agree with it, but she had to share it with them. At that point, any idea could be the difference between victory or defeat._

_“Or… we don’t need to know the place like the palm of our hands. We’re all thinking that if we know the place will be in a better position to defeat the Collector. But what if it’s the other way around?” -Mylene deaclared._

_Hearing her say that, the others looked at Mylene, who apparently had come up with a different idea._

_“Then, what do you suggest, Mylene?” -Rose asked her._

_“Okay, listen to me. If there’s one thing my dad has taught me is that in theatre, bigger doesn’t always mean better. Sometimes, a smaller set is better than a big one, because it’s easier to know where one should stand or go, and it leads to less mistakes.” -Mylene explained. –“But in our case, we need the opposite. We’re all thinking that if we fight this guy in a place that we know well, and he doesn’t, that we’ll have the upper hand. But what if we did the opposite? What if we chose a place that is both big, where we can move freely, without the chance of running into someone, and that none of us knows too well?” -she went on. –“If we rely on one thing too much, like the place itself, we might end up feeling that we have things under control, and by feeling that, we might get careless and end up losing more than just our miraculouses. We need to be on high alert during the whole battle, and when you don’t know your surroundings, you tend to be more alert… at least, that’s what I think.”_

_“It kinda makes sense.” -Rose declared._

_“It does, if you think about it.” -Juleka agreed with the blonde._

_“I understand what you’re saying…” -Marinette said. –“But do you think it would work? I mean, wouldn’t we be worrying about not knowing our surroundings, while fighting him?”_

_“Maybe not… I think we may be trying to take things to seriously here.” -Max said. –“I didn’t say it before, but maybe we’re all overeacting a little here. Don’t take this the wrong way, but instead of treating this battle against the Collector like it’s the biggest fight of our lives, maybe we should be treating it like a regular battle against one of Hawk Moth’s akumas.” -he went on, much to everyone’s surprise. –“I don’t mean that we should take things lightly, but if there’s one thing we all know, is that in life, you can only control certain things, and well… though this battle is important, and I’m not saying it isn’t, maybe we could try and treat it more like a regular battle? We’re nervous because there’s the possibility of lus osing our miraculouses, and even our lives against the Collector, but isn’t it the same thing when we go up against one of Hawk Moth’s akumas, or even Hawk Moth himself?”_

_With that speech, Max laid things in perspective for all of them. They were taking things maybe a bit too seriously, and that was messing with their judgement. It was true that that was going to be their biggest and most important battle ever, and it was true that they were all scared, though they would not say it, not because they were afraid or ashamed of saying it, but because they did not want the others to worry about. But at the same time, they knew they could not let their fear command their actions, and Max had just reminded them of that._

_“Hate to say it, but Max might be right about it. I think we’re taking things a little too seriously here.” -Marinette admitted, as she nibbled a French fry. –“It’s true that this guy is a monster, in every sense of the word. He doesn’t care who he has to kill or destroy to make end meet. But, none of us is really alone in this. We’re a team, and no matter what, we’ll face him together. And it doesn’t matter if we’re scared… I’m scared, you are all scared, but like I said, it doesn’t matter, and you know why? Because we got each other’s back.” -she smiled._

_Once more, Marinette managed to choose the right words for the right moment, and with it, make the others realize that no matter how bad things could get, as long as they had each other, everything would turn out okay._

_“You’re right. As long as we stick together, and we act as a team, we’ll be alright.” -Alya smiled to her friend._

_“You bet.” -Adrien waved his head._

_“Absolutely.” -Nino agreed with his best friend._

_“And now that that’s out of the way, all we need now is a place to lay down the trap.” -Chloe said._

_“And I think I may have just remembered a place that gathers everything we’re looking for in one!” -Ivan exclaimed._

_“Where?!” -Mylene asked him._

_“Pere Lachaise cemetery. It’s big, it’s wide, it has tons of places one can use to stay out of sight, and though it’s near apartment buildings, it’s secluded enough for us to battle that guy, without having to worry about going through someone’s house, after being knocked by the Collector.” -Ivan said. –“Plus, we don’t know it very well. It’s the perfect place.”_

_“It’s true. The place is deserted at night, it’s a little secluded and, I speak for myself, I don’t know the place very well, which itself, like Mylene has said, is a must for us to keep a sharp look at our surroundings, and focus on the battle.” -Nathaniel declared._

_It did not take long for them to agree that the cemetery was the perfect place for both a battle, and a trap. Plus, though it had some security, it was a lot easier to enter a cemetery than a museum or any other place that had much more security. As for how they were going to enter it, they decided they would find a way, once they got there._

_“Alright, then it’s settled. Pere Lachaise cemetery is where we make our stand against the Collector, tonight. The twelve of us will defeat him just like we defeat all other akumas, and…” -Marinette said, when she was interrupted._

_“Twelve? What do you mean twelve? What about me and Kim? Have you forgotten about us?” -Chloe exclaimed, feeling that Marinette was letting them out of the plan._

_“No, I haven’t, Chloe. But I can’t let you or Kim come with us.” -Marinette told her, looking her seriously in the eyes. –“Unlike us, you two don’t have your miraculouses and that means…_

_“That means that we’re useless, is that it?!” -Chloe shot at her. You could hear the sadness, as well as the frustration in her voice. She knew that without her miraculous, she was as useflu to the team, as air conditioning on a motorcycle. Still, deep inside her, she did not want to admit it, even if it was the truth._

_“No, never… please, try to understand. If you and Kim come with us, without your miraculouses, you might get hurt, or worst… and that’s something I won’t be able to live with, Chloe.” -Marinette told her with a sweet and caring voice. –“I know you want to see Pollen again, but you can’t put yourself in danger, when things might get ugly and you won’t be able to defend yourself. The same thing goes for you Kim. I don’t want you to get hurt.”_

_“And you think that just because we don’t have any miraculouses, that were just going to stand by and let you do all the work?!” -Kim asked her with a cynical voice. –“I’m sorry, but I’m not going to do that, especially when that guy has something that belongs to me. And the only way you’ll prevent me from going with you guys, is to chain me up to a wall, because otherwise, I’m coming and that’s that.”_

_“Look, I know that I can’t fully understand what you’re feeling right now, but one thing I know, deep inside my heart. I care about everyone here, and that’s why I can’t let you come with us. I care too much for your safety and well-being to risk it. That’s why I can’t let you and Chloe come.” -Marinette told him._

_“But I want to be there! I owe it to Imp! It was because of me and my selfishness that he and my miraculous ended up in the hands of that guy! I’ve got to be there, so that when you guys rip it from that belt, I’ll put it on, and I’ll use that guy’s head to practice my aim, with my bat!” -Kim told her; the determination in his voice was absolute._

_“And I owe it to Pollen; Marinette. And just like Kim, when you guys take my miraculous from the Collector, and give it to me, I’m putting it on, and I swear to God, I’m going to make that guy beg for mercy as I use all of my strength in my attacks, not only for stealing my miraculous and my kwami, but for attacking and hurting me and Sabrina the other day.” -Chloe told her. –“Neither you, or anyone here can deny us our right to be there. And before you say it, no, what I want, at least me, is not vengeance, it’s justice. If he ever manages to get out of the urn, we’re going to seal him in tonight, I want to make sure that he thinks twice before coming after us or anyone else.” -she declared._

_“Besides. what kind of person would I be if I let you do all the fighting? I know that I was selfish and all, but I want to fight alongside you. I want to make sure that guy understands that if he messes with the bull, then he better be ready to get the horns… and I bet everything I have that Chloe wants to do the same. Please, let us come. You have my word that I won’t try being a hero, before I have my miraculous back.” -Kim told her._

_The two of them were determined in having their way about it. They truly wanted to fight alongside the rest of the team, and the truth was, after that emotional pledge, it was hard to say no to them._

_“We might as well let them come. You know just how stubborn the two of them are.” -Alix told Marinette. –“Plus, once we get their miraculouses back and give them to them, they can help out.” -she reminded her._

_“Alix does have a point, girl.” -Alya said. –“And it would be nice to have Kim’s speed and Chloe’s control over the wind.” -she added._

_“Yeah, let them come. As long as they stay hidden until we can get their miraculouses back, I don’t mind having them coming.” -Max said. –“Besides, it’s like Alix and Alya said._

_“Indeed. Let Chloe and Kim come, Marinette.” -Sabrina begged her. The redhead was not going to say it, but she would feel a lot safer, if her best-friend came along._

_The speech they had given, combined with the insistence from the other members in the team, placed Marinette in a tight spot. On one hand, she knew the others were right that when they managed to take the miraculouses from the Collector, Chloe and Kim’s help would be precious to them. On the other, she feared that if things got out of control, they might end up getting hurt, or worst. It was a big dilemma she had on her hands. Thinking about it, she had in account both what they had told her, and what the rest of the team had said about it, before giving them her answer._

_“Fine… okay, you can come. But remember, until you have your miraculouses back, you don’t show yourselves, not even if one of us is in danger, got that?” -Marinette declared._

_“Got it.” -Kim said._

_“You have my word.” -Chloe said._

_“Good. Now, we should…” -Marinette said, when the bell rang, announcing the end of lunch hour. –“What, already?!” -she exclaimed, surprised by how fast time had gone, while they were talking._

_“Time went by way faster than we thought.” -Adrien said. –“And we didn’t even eat.” -he said, looking at his plate, which was pratically untouched._

_“Do you think Miss Bustier will give us a couple of more minutes for us to finish eating?”_

_“I don’t know, but I’m not going to risk it.” -Kim said, as he began to eat what he had in his plate, which on that day was stuffed mushrooms with meatballs. Scarving the food down as fast as he could, the sounds_

_“Ew… could you try and not to eat like an animal, Kim?” -Alix asked him, feeling sick just from looking at him. –“Please, stop that, you’re making me sick!” -she begged him._

_In the end, they all were forced to act a little like Kim, and eat as fast as they could, gulping down the food, so they would not arrive late in class. When they got to the class, Miss Bustier asked them if they had a nice lunch, and most just waved in silence. Eating that fast had given them stomach aches, and they had to pretend like everything was alright. All because they had spent so much time trying to figure out where they would set their trap for the Collector._

_When school was over, Master Fu was waiting for them. We wanted to give them their miraculouses, which they had given to him the day before, so he could prepare them for the fight against the Collector. One by one, each of the miraculouses was handed to its owner, as the old master told them a few words of advice._

_“Now, go home and rest as much as you can. A relaxed body is a healthy body, just as a relaxed mind is a healthy mind.” -Master Fu said, as he handed Juleka her miraculous. –“Tonight, you are going to face your toughest test yet, so, when you get home, do something you like, clear your minds and don’t think too much on what you’re going to do. Leave those thoughts for tonight.” -he said._

_Following those words, the old master asked them at which time they wanted him to pick them up, and if they needed a little help to get out of their homes, which some said “yes”, knowing it would be hard for them to go out on a weekday._

_“Do not fret. Leave everything to me.” -Master Fu said._

(End of Flashback)

Following Master Fu’s advice, Marinette spent most of her afternoon lying down on her bed, watching old animes on her laptop and reading the latest updates on some Harry Potter fanfics Mylene had sent her a few days before. She wanted to be as calm and relaxed as possible for when the time came to face the Collector, especially since she was going to be the bait to make him come out of his hideout. She did not like the idea, but being the team’s leader, she was not going to let anyone else be the bait. If anything went wrong, then, she would be the only casualty in that plan of theirs. The plan was simple. She would go to somewhere on the cemetery, she felt was a good place to fight the Collector, and then she would put on her miraculous, transform into Ladybug, and wait for the villain to show himself. After that, she would battle him for a little bit, and make him think he had the upper hand, only for the rest of the team to put on their miraculouses and spring into action. Once they weakened him enough, and retrieved Chloe and Kim’s miraculouses, Master Fu would seal him inside an urn, and they would go home. It was the perfect plan.     

As she readied herself to go out, she played the whole plan in her mind a couple of times, just to be sure they had covered every possibility. At the same time, she put on some warm clothes, because the night was rather chilly. Taking a few seconds to look herself in the mirror, she realized that unconsciously, she had dressed herself in basic black, mimicking the clothes of a burglar, who did not want to spotted in the dead of the night. She sighed, as she also realized that that could be the last time, she saw her bedroom. If she and the rest of the team failed, the Collector would most likely kill them all, for having the audacity to stand up to him. The thought of never seeing her things, her parents, everything she held dear was not a pleasant one, so she tried to get it off her mind, believing that in a matter of hours, she would be back, smiling happily. Turning her attention to her desk, she grabbed the box where her miraculous was.     

“Don’t worry, Tikki. Tonight, you’ll be free as a bird, once again. I promise you.” -Marinette said, as she placed the box inside her backpack.  

With everything set, the only thing left to do, was to go outside and wait for Master Fu to come and pick her up. Still, managing to go outside would be easier said than done. Because her parents were still in the living room, and would not go to bed for at least another hour, she could not go through the backdoor. That meant there was only one other way out… the fire escape stairs that were on the back of the building. She was going to use them to get to the ground, unnoticed. Still, there was one problem with that plan of hers. None of her windows had access to those stairs. The only for her to access them, was from her terrace on the building’s rooftop, but even there, she would have to jump down from it, to get to them. It was a little dangerous, because it was five meters jump downward. Still, there was no other way.

“ _Let’s do this._ ” -Marinette thought to herself, as she turned off the lights in her bedroom and exited through the balcony.

Once on the terrace, she tried to find a way to get down to the fire stairs safely. At first, she thought that she could just drop to the fire stairs, but after seeing the height, Marinette had second thoughts about that plan of hers.  

“ _Maybe I should have Master Fu to help me get out of the house…_ ” -Marinette thought to herself, as she looked down and saw just where the fire stairs were. –“ _I can’t jump this. I’ll break a foot, or my neck if I land wrong. Not to mention that I’ll wake up half the neighbourhood…_ ” -she thought, as she tried to come up with a way out of that situation. –“ _I’ve got to find another way… wait! I got it!_ ”

Going back to her bedroom, she went to get a pair of old bedsheets her mother had told her to throw out a few weeks before, and that she had forgotten to do it. With them, she was going to create a makeshift rope and use it to get down to the fire stairs safely. Not wasting a moment, she tied the sheets as best as she could and then tied one of the ends to the railing, double-checking to see if it would hold her weight. Going over the railing, she took a deep breath, and tried not to look down. As she began to go down, she took deep breaths, so as to calm herself down. She had not descended two meters, when her right foot slipped, and she instinctively grabbed the rope with all her strength, afraid to move. Taking a few more deep breaths, she tried to calm her heart, which was beating like crazy.

“ _This is a lot easier when I have my mask on…_ ”  -Marinette thought to herself, as she waited for her heart to slow down a little, before continuing to slide down the rope.

It took her about five minutes to get down to the fire stairs, and when her feet touched them, she let out a sigh of relief. More than that, that little stunt made her value even more the powers that moth her miraculous and Tikki granted her, and how much she missed both. She kept repeating to herself that if everything went according to plan, Tikki would be able to sleep by her side that night, as the Collector and his threat would be nothing more than a bad memory. Reminding herself that she would have to collect the makeshift rope later, she went down the stairs, making as little noise as possible.

Once on the ground, Marinette made her way through the back streets, while texting Master Fu that he could come and get her, sending him the street’s name, where she would be waiting. The blue-haired girl did not want to risk being spotted by any of her neighbours, who could later tell her parents they saw her out on the street, and she would have to come up with lie to explain why they had seen her. A few seconds later, she got a text from Alya saying that she would not have to wait long for that ride, making her assume that the old master had picked up some of the others already.

Arriving at the place she told in the text she would be waiting, she wondered how long she would have to wait. Passing around, she noticed a couple on the other side of the street, shop viewing. The way they were dressed, and the fact that one of them was carrying a really expensive cameras around his neck, made her assume these were tourists. Looking at them, for a second, Marinette envied them. Visiting Paris, without a care in the world, while she herself could be walking to her grave. Once again, she had to make an effort to get those thoughts out of her head, as she waited for Master Fu to come and pick her up. A few minutes later, Marinette heard a horn, startling her, as an old green Volkswagen T2 Camper parked in front of her. At the wheel, was Master Fu, who waved at her. Waving at her, were also some of her friends, were seated in the back. Smiling, she went to meet them, as they slid open the door for her. Entering it, she saw Alya, Nino, Ivan, Kim, Chloe and Sabrina had been the first ones to be picked up,

“Gooe evening.” -Marinette said, as she sat, closing the door behind her.

“Good evening, Marinette.” -Master Fu greeted her, as he shifted into first gear.

“So, who are we going to pick up next?” -Marinette asked, as she tried to get comfortable between Ivan and Sabrina.

“Next will be Juleka and Rose. Rose managed to convince her parents to stay over at Juleka’s house, telling them they needed to finish a project for school.” -Alya told her, as she noticed her friend was a little nervous. –“Don’t worry, girl, everything is going to turn out alright.”

“Who’s worried? Not me, that’s who.” -Marinette asked, smilling nervously.

“Marinette, you’re good in many things, but lying isn’t one of them, girl. I know that nervous smile of yours… in fact, I think everyone in this van, including Master Fu there, knows that nervous smile of yours, which you only make, when you’re either stressed, ashamed or nervous, and given what we’re going to do, I’d say that smile is because of your nerves.” -Alya told her. –“Just relax, and remember what you told us this morning… You got our backs, and we got yours, right, everyone?”

“Yeah!” -the others spoke in chorus.

Even though hearing that did not prevent her from continuing to have awful thoughts about what could happen to them, it did manage to cheer her up, even if just enough, for her to smile.

* * *

Pére Lachaise cemetery. It was not the first time the Miraculous Heroes visited that place during one of their missions. Thrre of them, Ivan, Rose and Juleka had a run-in with some nasty zombies a couple of werewolves and a giant Golem made out of ashes there, on the previous Halloween. Still, back then, the whole place was absolutely different. It looked more like a graveyard one sees in an old horror movie, than a real graveyard, which did not make it any less scary or creepy, once the sun set on the horizon. At that time of day, there were still people out on the streets, and most cafés and restaurants would only close a few hours from there. Moving around, while keeping a low profile was not exactly easy. They did not want to anyone to notice them, so after a couple of laps around the block, looking for a parking place, Master Fu managed to find one in a parallel street. Inside the van, the climate was a little tense. None of them was in a talking mood, and the old master decided to not force them to talk, believing they needed to focus on that they were going to do. When he finished parking, silence was broken.   

“Well, here we are.” -Adrien sighed. Inside his head, he was still thinking how he had managed to give the slip to Nathalie, who was working late that night, and how he had managed to exit through the front foor of the manor, without alerting anyone. –“ _I must have been a ninja in another life._ ” -he thought to himself.

“So, how are we going to get in?” -Nino asked. –“Do we transform and jump over the wall, and once we’re inside, turn back to normal?”-he suggested. They had discussed many things when it came to what they were doing that night, but one they had not discussed thoroughly was how they were going to enter in the cemetery.

“No, too risky. We don’t know if the Collector is hiding nearby.” -Marinette said.

“We could try and climb the walls, but there are too many eyes around. Plus, it wouldn’t be easy without the proper equipment, and it would be a big fall.” -Mylene told them.  

“Well, we can’t just go through the main entrance, can we?” -Sabrina said. –“If we do that, those security guards will stop us, and they’ll call the police.” -she declared, imagining herself being arrested, as her parents face when they found out that she was not in the house, sleeping, and was caught trying to break into one of the city’s most famous landmarks.

“Perhaps, we can.” -Master Fu smiled, as everyone else looked at him.

Telling them to stay in the car, Master Fu grabed a backpack he had brought with him, where the urn he had prepared to trap the Collector was, exited the vehicle and made his way to the cemetery’s front gate, where two security guards were standing, guarding it. He did not know just how many security guards were guarding the cememtery, but soon he would know exactly how many they were. Making his way to the cemetery’s entrance, he quickly came up with a little speech to approach them, without raising suspicions. Once he was only a couple of feet from them, he pretended to be lost, and approached the two of them, engaging in a friendly conversation.

“Good evening, gentlemen.” -Master Fu said.

“Good evening. Are you alright, sir?” -one of the security guards asked him.

“Who, me? Well, to be absolutely honest, I’m kind of lost. My memory isn’t what it used to be.” -Master Fu told him. –“I was wondering, if you or your colleague there, could perhaps help me.”

“Well, if we can, we would be happy to.” -the other security guard said.

“I see. Well, I’m on my way to see my daughter, we’re going to have dinner tonight, and well, she has… what’s it called? She texted me an address for the restaurant she’s waiting for me, and well, I can’t make heads or tails from this cell phone here. She gave it to me as a birthday present last year, you know? These modern things…” -Master Fu commented, pretending he did not know how his cell worked.

“It’s quite alright, sir.” -the guard said. –“It would be our pleasure.”

“Please, come a little closer, so I can look you lads in the eyes. Back in my days, when you wanted to talk to someone, you would look him or her in the eyes, and say what you meant.” -Master Fu said.  

Once they looked Master Fu in the eyes, it did not take long for him to use one of the special powers he had retained, even after stopping wearing the turtle miraculous. He quickly hypnotized the two men and with these under his control, he began to ask them several questions. They told him that besides the two of them there were also three other guards patrolling the cemetery and that the security cameras that existed worked in a closed circuit, and that all the images were stored for a period of 24 hours in a hard-drive, located on the guards’ recreation room. Knowing that, he asked the men to call their colleagues and to tell them to come meet them, while they entered.

A few minutes later, the other guards showed up and asked what was going on, as the old master also placed them under his spell. Quickly, he told them that he needed the cameras to be shut down and for the images in the hard-drive to be erased. One of the guards ran to the recreation room and did as he was told. Soon, all the cameras were down, and every bit of footage had been erased. Once he came back, Master Fu texted Marinette and the others to exit the van and come to the cemetery’s main gate. Obeying the old master, she and the others quickly exited the van and walked towards the main gate. On their way there, they crossed paths with the five security guards, who Master Fu had hypnotized. Looking at them, their faces looked like they were disconnected from reality. Wondering what had happened ot them, the first thing they asked the old master, as soon as they got to where he was, was what he had done to them.    

“I merely hypnotized them for a little bit. Once we’re done with the Collector, I’ll bring them back here and they won’t remember anything that happened.” -Master Fu answered.

“Where did you sent them to?” -Ivan asked him.

“I told them to wait in the van.” -Master Fu answered her.  –“They’ll be safe there.” -he added.

“You’ve got to teach us that Jedi trick of yours, master.” -Kim told the old man. –“It would really come in handy, when I get in trouble with my parents, or when I get a bad grade.” -he commented, still impressed by how Master Fu had managed to hypnotize the security guards.

“Like I said before Kim, this is not a trick that should be used lightly, and besides, it takes decades to master it.” -Master Fu said, as he opened the door for them. –“Now, let’s get inside, before people see us and start asking questions.” -he said, as he entered the cemetery.

Closing the gates behind them, the heroes could now operate at will, knowing that they would not be disturbed.

“Alright, where do we go from here?” -Nathaniel asked. –“Does anyone have a map of this place?”

“Way ahead of you.” -Max said, as he grabbed his cell phone. –“I downloaded the cemetery’s map before you guys picked me up.” -he said, as he opened it. –“Okay, to our left we have the graves of Baron Haussman and Alfred de Musset, while to our right we have the graves of Fréderic Chopin and Pierre Desproges… among others we also have the graves of Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, Eugène Delacroix, just ot name a few. Does anyone feel like mingling with dead celebrities?”  

“Cut the jokes, Max. I’m already nervous enough, as it is. I don’t need your nerd jokes to make me even more nervous than I am.” -Alix told him. Never in her life she thought she would trespass on a cemetery.  

“Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood.” -Max said.

“We’re going to need cover, so the Collector doesn’t see you guys, until it’s time for you to show up.” -Marinette said. Just like her, the others were all wearing basic black as well. She did not know if it was just coincidence, or if they had unconsciously thought that that colour would hide them better from prying eyes. Whatever the answer was, she knew that black clothes would not be enough for them to hide in the darkness from the Collector. –“Let’s find a section where there are graves with effigies big enough for you to hide behind, or maybe some mausolea.”

Marching in the dark, they used their cell phones as flashlights to light the way, heading towards the Memorial to the Dead. Unlike most of the pathways in the cemetery, which were only illuminated by street lamps, the memorial was lighted with powerful spotlights, making it visible, even form the outside. As they kept heading into the middle of the cemetery, they felt that they were being watched. They knew of course, this was just their imagination, but a cemetery at night, is hardly a welcoming place to be. The wind gently rocked the cypresses, giving the impression they had a life of their own. In the middle of their branches, owls hooted. They had just passed the Ossuary, when Rose yelped after hearing one hooting, while rustling its wings.

“Yikes! What was that?!” -Rose yelped, after hearing that strange noise coming from the trees.

“It’s alright. It’s just an owl, Rose.” -Juleka told her, while placing her arm on her back, comforting her.  

“It could’ve been a bat, you know?” -Max told her. –“Did you guys know that is estimated that 2 to 3 million people have been buried in this place, since it opened in 1804? That’s a lot of people, if you think about it. It’s pretty much the current number of people who live in Paris.”

“Max, no offense, but could you stop with the trivia bits? You’re making us even more nervous than what we already are.” –Rose begged him. Right then, she had her heart beating like the heart of a hummingbird.

“Sorry… I guss saying those things, calms me down a bit.” -Max said. He himself was incredibly nervous.

“How much longer do we have to keep walking?” -Chloe asked out loud

“I don’t know. But, when we see the perfect spot, we’ll stop.” -Marinette told her.

Master Fu felt that he could perhaps tell them where the best place for an ambush would be, but he decided to just keep quiet. He did not tell them, but he figured that their fight against Hawk Moth would take more than just a couple of months. It could take them years, decades even, and during that time, something might happen to him. Something that could take him from that world, before his time. And if that happened, he needed to be sure that the teenagers could handle themselves, without his guidance. That was why he decided that they would be the ones to take all the decisions for that operation. He would only be there to supervise them, to trap the Collector, and, if needed, to intervene, but only if he felt they could not handle it. Silently, he kept walking by their side.

They kept walking for a few more minutes. When they reached the crematorium, they stopped. Looking around, Marinette felt that was the perfect place for the ambush. The building itself was surrounded by a structure containing hundreds, if not thousands of mortuary drawers, each one with a different name and date, filled with the mortal remains of people who had abandoned that world. Arund the building were also several family mausoleums, surrounded by numerous bushes and short trees, which made them the perfect hiding spots. Taking a deep breath, she told them to spread out and find a place they deemed safe to hide. A few minutes later, she went o check on all of them, to see if they well hidden, while also telling them that had to remain hidden until she gave the signal. Asking her what the signal would be, she said that they would know it, when seeing it. Chloe and Kim stayed with Master Fu. As she checked on them, Marinette begged them once more to not try to be heroes, before getting their miraculouses back.

“I know I already asked this of you, but I want you both to promise me once again, that you won’t try to be heroes, before getting your miraculouses back.” -Marinette looked them both in the eyes. –“Please, for your own safety, don’t try anything.”

“We won’t.” -Chloe told her.

“I told you already, I won’t try anything.” -Kim said. –“Just hurry up and bring me back my miraculous, so I can go into battle, and punch that guy until he passes out, or I break every bone in my hands.” -he told her.

“I’ll keep an eye on them, Marinette. Don’t worry.” -Master Fu smiled at her. –“Just focus on what you have to do, and please, be careful. It’s not just us who need to be careful, you too.” -he told her.      

“I will, master.” -Marinette waved her head.

The last one she checked on was Adrien, who had decided to hide behind one of the columns near the mortuary drawers. He was worried about her safety, and did not like her to be the bait on that situation. So, he decided to ask her, if she did not want some company.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to serve as bait as well? I’m told that if I was a fish, I would be quite the catch, you know?” -Adrien joked, trying not to sound too nervous.

“Thanks, but there’s no need, Adrien.” -Marinette told her with a soft voice.

“What do you mean there’s no need? Just because you’re the leader, and everyone has agreed to let you be the bait to get that guy out of his hiding spot, it doesn’t mean that you have to do it alone.” -Adrien told her. –“I thought I was your second in command, and as the second in command, I have to be by your side, if things go wrong.”

“You’re right, you’re my second in command, and that’s why I decided to be the one to do this, alone. If things go wrong, I’m counting on you to lead the others in battle… and, if things go very, very wrong, I’m counting on you to get everyone out of here, safely.” -Marinette declared.

“You’re saying that as if you’re going to die.” -Adrien told her.

“I don’t plan to, but…” -Marinette said that. It felt strange to her to talk to Adrien like that, without blushing, without stuttering, without feeling like her heart was going to explode with emotion. The way they were talking right then, it was like when they were donning their Ladybug and Chat Noir identities. –“Look, let’s not jinx things, okay? Stay hidden, and wait for my signal, before attacking him.” -she told him.   

“And what will the signal be?” -Adrien asked her.

“You’ll know what the signal will be, when the time comes.” -Marinette told him, as she began to walk away from him.

“Good luck, milady.” -Adrien told her, with a smile on his face.  

“Thanks, kitty. See you in a bit.” -Marinette winked at him.

“ _Be careful, Marinette._ ” -Adrien thought to himself.

Walking away from the blond, Marinette wondered about what she was going to do, as the words she had told Adrien echoed in her mind. With each step she took, she asked herself if she should turn around and ask Adrien to come with her, or not. Part of her wanted him to come with her, but the other part told her that if she really loved him and cared for him, not only as the boy she was secretly in love with, but also as a friend, she would want him to be safe, even if that meant she would get hurt in the process. Stopping in front of the

“Alright, let’s do this. It’s time for you to come out and play Collector.” -Marinette said, as she opened her backpack and took out the box where her miraculous was.

Taking a few seconds to admire the ladybug earrings, that were now resting on the palm of her right hand, she told herself that once she put them on, two things would happen. First, she would have her powers back and Tikki would once again be free. And second, the Collector would sense the powers from her miraculous and would come for her. Swallowing heard, she put on the earrings, and hoped for the best. Once she put on the second earring, a flash of light came from them, and a moment later, the tiny ladybug kwami, Tikki, was standing in front of her, smiling joyously.

“Marinette!” -Tikki exclaimed.

“Hi, Tikki.” -Marinette said, with a big smile on her face. As scared as she was, the happiness in her heart, from seeing the tiny kwami, her kwami, in front of her, was way stronger than any kind of fear she had inside her.

“What’s going on? Where are we?” -Tikki asked the blue-haired girl, not recognizing the place they were.  

“I don’t have time to explain, right now. But I promise you, that if everything goes as planned, I won’t have to take off my miraculous, ever again, and I’ll tell you everything that you and the other kwamis have lost so far.” –Marinette told her.  

“Wait, you’re going to fight the Collector, alone?!” -Tikki asked her. You could see the fear in her eyes, and hear it in her voice. But it was not fear for herself, it was fear for Marinette’s well-being.  

“No… well, just for a little bit. We have a plan. The whole team is here.” -Marinette told her. –“The only ones who won’t join us are Kim and Chloe, because the Collector managed to get their miraculouses.  

“How?!” -Tikki asked her, not believing what she had just heard.

“I’ll tell you everything later, I promise. But right now, I need to know, are you strong enough to lend me your powers so we can take this guy down?”

“Yes, I am.” –Tikki said, as she dashed towards Marinette’s chest and hugged her. –“I missed you so much; Marinette.” -she said, as a tiny tear ran down her face. It was a tear of joy and not one of sadness. She was happy to be free, once more, but more than that, she was happy to see Marinette.

“I missed you too, Tikki.” –Marinette said.

The two stayed there like that for what looked like an eternity, as everyone else there watched the happy reunion taking place, wishing that they could also put on their miraculouses and see their kwamis right away. But they knew they had to wait until the time was right to do so, and when they did, they would have to face their toughest challenge yet. Breaking the hug, Tikki flew up, until she was at Marinette’s eye level. It was time to get serious.    

“Are you ready? Just say the magic words.” -Tikki smiled.     

“Tikki, transforme moi!” -Marinette yelled.           


	20. Ladybug Strikes

With those three words, Marinette transformed into her alter-ego, Ladybug, Parisian heroine, and leader of the Miraculous Team. The surge of energy that went through her body as she transformed felt absolutely marvellous. She had missed that feeling, which had become familiar to her. And as the transformation ended, she felt like she had been reborn. It felt good to have all that energy flowing through her veins, as well as the warmth touch of her suit against her bare skin. In sum, it felt good to be Ladybug once again. 

“Man, i _t feels great to be back!_ ” -Ladybug thought to herself. Now that she had all her powers and abilities back, it felt to her, like nothing could go wrong. That thought itself was enough to boost her morale.  –“ _Now, let’s get the Collector’s attention._ ”

Using her yo-yo like a grappling hook, she quickly propelled herself to top of the crematorium building. Once there, she sat on the roof and waited for the Collector to show himself, whom she believed would show up very soon. Down on the ground, the rest of the team were nervous for her. Seeing their friend and leader up on the roof, serving as bait was not easy for them. And it was not just Adrien who felt like putting on his miraculous and join her. Hiding behind one of the many mausolea surrounding the crematorium, Alya also wanted to join her, and if it was not for Nino, who told her to calm herself down and wait for the right moment, she might have done it.

“I can’t let her be up there alone. I’m going to transform and jon her.” -Alya said, as she took her miraculous from inside the pocket of her jacket and prepared to put it on around her neck, when she was prevented from doing it, by none other than her boyfriend, who was by her side.

“No, Alya, you can’t do it. We have our orders.” -Nino told her, holding her hand, which was holding the fox miraculous.

“But she’s my best friend, Nino! What kind of friend let’s another friend head into the lion’s den, all by herself?” -Alya insisted on the matter. She was determined to have her way.

“A friend who was asked to trust her friend’s plan and decision, Alya.” -Nino told her with a calm and soothing voice. He had learned a long time ago, that when the brunette was acting like that, the best thing he could do was to talk with a voice that made her realize just how agitated she was about something. –“I’m with you. I want to put on my miraculous as well, and just go join her… just like everyone else in our team. But we can’t. Remember what we all talked about. We only got one shot at this, and Marinette is counting on us to do our part, just like she’s doing hers, right now. Besides, you know her. She’s a tough cookie.”

Hearing him say those things, made Alya realize that he was right. Marinette was many things, but she was no damsel in distress. If she thought that she could fight the Collector alone for a bit, and lure him into their trap, then she could do it. And the only thing she, and the others could do, was to wait for the villain to show up, and for the heroine to give the signal, for them to join the fight.

 “You’re right. On the outside she’s super sweet and looks incredibly naïve and fragile, but she’s really a tough cookie.” -Alya asserted. –“Still, it’s not easy to just sit back and do nothing, while she’s up there, risking her neck, notly for herselr, but for all of us.” -she said, as she looked at Ladybug, on the rooftop.

“I know, Alya, I know, believe me. It’s not easy for me either.” -Nino told her, as he placed his hand on her right shoulder, trying to calm her down a bit.

They were really not the only ones. Adrien was appealing to every ounce of strength he had in him, to not give in to the the temptation of putting his miraculous and go help Ladybug. The others also did the same, with some of them wondering if that plan, they had put on was going to work, as they thought it would. Hiding in some bushes, not far from where Alya and Nino were, Rose and Juleka feared that the plan could fail and her friend injured, or even killed in the process. The anxiety and the fear for her friend’s well-being inside their chests was so great, that they were holding hands, in an almost futile attempt to calm each other down.  

“Do you think she’ll be alright?” -Rose whispered at Juleka, who was staring watchfully at the building’s rooftop, where Ladybug was.

“I hope so, Rose.” -Juleka told her, as she squeezed her hand, softly. –“She looks relaxed, at least that.”  

Ladybug did look calm and relaxed, up there on the rooftop. But the truth was, she was a little scared. She knew that at any given moment, the Collector would show up and they would start fighting each other. From what Kim, Chloe and Sabrina told her and the rest of the gang, the Collector was quite the chatty sort of villain. But while being chatty, they did add that he was not the kind of villain who loved to hear the sound of his own voice, like Hawk Moth did. He was merely the sort of villain who seemed at ease with his victims, and that translated into a sort of informal conversation.

A few moments earlier, the wind began to blow with a little more strength than before. Even with her supersuit on, Ladybug could feel the cold breeze. Shivering, she tried to not to think about the cold, by focusing on spotting the Collector, who by then had most likely felt her. Staring at the night sky, something inside her kept telling her that he would come flying through the air, and so she kept her eyes peeled.

“ _Where is he? Does he know this is a trap?_ ” -Ladybug asked herself that. –“ _No, how could he? Unless… somehow, when he captured Kim and Chloe’s miraculouses, he cast a spell that created a mind link between the two of them, and himself, enabling him to see and hear everything they do._ ” -she hypothesized.

The idea that such a thing could have happened, without the two of them knowing was quite possible. She had read enough fantasy books and watched enough television series, cartoons, animes and movies about magic to know that that could be possible. If 14 teenagers have magical tokens that enable them to do things like flying, lifting objects with more than 20 tons with relative ease, among other things, wh was to say that someone with similar abilities, could not do such a thing? The whole idea terrified her, making her think that she could have brough all her friends, along with Master Fu, into a trap.    

“ _No, that’s ridiculous! If that had really happened, the Collector would have known who we are, and he could have attacked us anytime he wanted to. I mean, we all go to the same class. All he had to do, was to show up and force us to fight him._ ” -Ladybug tried to think as rationally as possible. –“ _Yes, it’s ridiculous… Marinette, you’re just overthinking things, and that’s not good. You need to focus, and stop having those crazy thoughts. It’s not good for you, or for the others if you start doing that. They’re depending on you._ ” -she thought to herself. –“ _The Collector doesn’t know that this is all a trap, and when he finds out it is, it’ll be too late._ ”

That last thought managed to grant her a little peace of mind, as she continued to watch the night sky. Time dragged on, as seconds turned into minutes, as Ladybug kept waiting for the Collector to show up. Getting up, she walked around the rooftop, so as to stretch her legs, never taking her eyes out of the night sky. The last thing she needed was for her enemy to catch her off guard.   

“Where is that guy?!” -Ladybug exclaimed. –“ _I’m starting to think that he’s not coming._ ” -she thought to herself.

“Good evening.” -a voice from behind her spoke, startling her.

Standing just a few feet from her was the Collector. When she saw him, Ladybug was astounded by his size and weigth. The images she had seen of him, and the descriptions Kim, Chloe and Sabrina had made of him did not do him justice. Not only he was taller, but he was looked heavier than she had imagined him. But what surprised her was the magical aura that emanated from him. It was similar to the one she had felt when facing Hawk Moth, but at the same time, different. This made her slightly nervous, though she tried not to show it. Down on the ground, the rest of the team saw him, and the first thing they thought was that the first part of the plan had worked. They had managed to lure him out of his hiding spot, and right into their trap. But now, came the time to put the second part of the plan into motion. It was all up to Ladybug, and they know it.

“He came…” –Ivan said, crouching in the bushes, right next to Mylene. –“We managed to get him here.”

“He looks way bigger than I expected.” -Mylene told him, trying not to show fear. There was something about the Collector that was giving her the chills.  

Nearby, Alix and Nathaniel were also amazed by the Collector’s size, but more than that, they were amazed with his speed. Especially Alix, who deep down doubted he could be as fast as her or Kim. Now, she understood why Kim had been beaten by him. There was no way he could have outrun someone who was that fast, at least, not alone.

“How can that guy be that big, and still move like lightning?” -Alix asked Nathaniel. –“We did not even see him arriving.”

“I don’t know. But there’s something about him that I don’t like one bit, Alix.” -Nathaniel said. Being the team member who was the most sensitive to magical auras, he could feel the dark aura coming from him, and just how powerful that one was.

Seeing him once again, Sabrina’s blood almost froze in her veins. She did not tell anyone, not even Chloe, so as not to worry her, but she was afraid of facing the Collector once again. The first time she fought him, she believed that luck had been on her side, mostly thanks to Chloe, who sacrificed herself and her miraculous to protect her. But this time, she feared that luck would not be enough to save her from the Collector’s claws. It took her most of her inner strength, and her faith in her friends to leave her house that night. Those two thoughts alone were what was keeping her from running away, scared.  

“ _Be careful, Marinette. That guy is a monster._ ” -Sabrina thought to herself, as she held her miraculous against her chest. Right then, she felt that the only way she would gather the courage she needed to fight the Collector, was to hear Mika, her kwami, tell her that she was braver than any other person he knew.   

Back on the rooftop, Ladybug remained silent for what looked like an eternity, studying the Collector, waiting to see what his first move would be. But he did not move a muscle. He just stood there, with the scarlet heroine’s eyes on top of him, observing him, the same way an eagle or a hawk observes its prey. Tired of that impasse, she decided to break the silence between them.  

“So… you’re the Collector, aren’t you?” -Ladybug said, finally breaking the silence. If he was not going to talk, then she would initiate the conversation.   

“And you are the holder of the ladybug miraculous.” -the Collector said, always with same courteous voice.

“I am. But I’m not just its holder. I’m also the leader of the team of heroes that protect this city, from villains like you.” -Ladybug declared with a serious voice.

“Villain? Is that what you take me for, child?” -the Collector asked her.

“Well, if you aren’t a villain, then, what are you?” -Ladybug asked him, deadpan.  

“What am I? I will tell you what I told your companions, before I took their miraculouses.” -the Collector said, which made Ladybug look at his belt. In it were two golden squares, each with a different symbol. Just like they had told her and the others, he had turned Kim and Chloe’s miraculous into accessories for his belt. –“I have a mission… and that mission is to ensure that justice reigns supreme on this land. And for that to happen, all those who do not respect the law, and who make others suffer, will have to be taught that there are severe consequences for breaking the law.” -he said. –“Once I finish my mission, this world will be a paradise for the innocent and the righteous.”

“That sounds like villain talk to me.” -Ladybug shot at him. The way he talked, it reminded her of the speeches given by Adolph Hitler and Benito Mussollini, that Miss Bustier had showed them in class. And if there was something she knew for certain, was that nothing food ever came from that kind of speech. 

“You’re too young to understand what I’m trying to do.”

“Young? Maybe, but I don’t need to be thousands of years old to recognize someone who considers himself to be superior to others, and that he’s doing the world a favour, by ruling it.” -the scarlet heroine said. –“Not to mention, that you tried to kill my friends, you psycho!”

“Your friends chose that path.” -the Collector declared. –“I gave them the opportunity to surrender their miraculouses, but they chose to lose them in battle.”

When he said those words, Ladybug just wanted to grab him and punch him until either he was out cold, or her fists numb with pain. The way he spoke about it, did not look like he had tried to kill her friends. And if there was one thing that repulsed her, more than anything, was someone who saw murder as something absolutely trivial.

“And now you want mine.” -Ladybug said.

“That is the plan. Will you give it to me, willingly, or will you force me to take it from you, by force?” -the Collector asked her, in an almost gentlemany way.

“I’m not giving you my miraculous, not now, not ever. And if you think your going to take it from me, you’ve got another thing coming.” -Ladybug warned him.

The Collector, hearing this, could not help but to laugh. But his laugh was not a mocking laugh. Instead, it was an almost inhuman laugh; the kind of laugh that someone with total disregard for human life would let out, after hearing a bad joke.

“Your friends thought the same, and look what happened to them.” -the Collector told her. –“Do you really think that you can stop me? Do you really think you are a match for me and my powers? Do you really think you have a chance of defeating me, when your friends could not?” -he asked, this time with a boisterous voice.

“You don’t scare me with those words.” -Ladybug shot at him. –“ _What am I talking about?! Of course, I’m scared… only a fool would not be scared of this guy! The aura surrounding him is different from anything we’ve faced so far! No, Marinette, calm yourself down. You can do this. What would Tikki say if she was here? She would say “Be brave, Marinette!”, and she would be cheering for you, always believing in you. And that’s why you need calm yourself down and focus. You can take this guy… besides, it’s only for a couple of minutes._ ” -she thought to herself. –“I’ve dealt with bigger threats than you before, and yes, I’m more than a match for you!”

“Foolish little girl.” -the Collector said. –“Believe me, when I say that I take no pleasure in doing what I’m about to do. But sacrifices must be made, to ensure that this world becomes a paradise for those who truly deserve it.” -he went on.

“Oh, yeah?! Well, this little girl here is about to show you just how we deal with guys like you in Paris!” -Ladybug said  

Seeing that she was not going to surrender her miraculous to him, the Collector readied himself for battle. Part of him, did not like what he was about to do, but the other part, the part that yearned to turn that world in a world that would match his idea of perfection and justice, was surely going to enjoy that little fight, the same way it had enjoyed, when he fought against Antelope, Queen Bee and Louve Grise. With a simple hand gesture, his double-edged sword appeared in front of him. Grabbing it, he wielded, ready to fight.   

“Very well. If you’re not going to give me your miraculous, I will take it from you, by force. The same way I did with your friends.” -the Collector said.

“I told you… my miraculous will never be yours. Plus, I’m taking back those two you stole from my friends.” -Ladybug said, with a defiant smirk on her face, as she placed herself in fighting stance, ready to fight.

Swiniging her yo-yo, Ladybug wasted no time in throwing it at the Collector, who grabbed it and tried to yank it from her hands, only for her to be pulled along with it, and then performing a sommersault over the villain’s head, landing safely after. Turning around, the Collector barely had the time to do this, when Ladybug delivered him a powerful kick to the stomach. Even so, he did not flinch. Using his sword, he tried to slice her in half, only for her to dodge his attacks. Still, the battle had just begun, and he knew that no matter how good she was, she was merely a child, with very little understanding of her miraculous’ true powers. He would come out of that fight as the absolute winner… it was only a matter of time.  

As for Ladybug, she wanted to believe that she had the upper hand, but if she believed in that, she would be just kidding herself. She knew that the Collector was testing her. If he wanted to kill her, he could do it with a snap of his fingers, thanks to the array of powers he had. Even so, that was not going to prevent her from attacking him.

“ _Remember, your objective is not to defeat him or cripple him. Your objective is to lead him into a false sense of security, making him believe that you’re not a match for him._ ” -Ladybug thought to herself. –“ _Still, that doesn’t mean I won’t try and land a couple of well placed kicks and punches, just to see his reaction._ ” -she smirked.

With that last thought on her mind, she decided to try her luck and test the Collector’s reflexes. Performing a sommersault over the villain’s head, she landed mere inches in frnt of him, and then, performed a back walkover move, kicking him on the chest. Disorienting him momentarily, she quickly got back up and uleashed a series of punches all over his chest, ending with a well place uppercut.      

“Come on! It’s like you’re not even trying!” -Ladybug mocked him. –“ _It’s strange. Why isn’t he attacking me? I’m managing to hit him all over, while he could easily dodge these attacks, without much effort. What’s his game?_ ”-she thought to herself.

Her answer to that question came a second later, when he moved his left arm at a speed too great to be perceived by the himan eye, and grabbed her by the neck.  

“Who says I’m not trying?” -the Collector said, as he tightened his grip, around Ladybug’s neck, feeling her speeding pulse. -“I could easily rip those earrings from your ears, and that would be the end of that.” -he kept talking. –“But, that would be most uncouth, especially when unlike your friends, you did not try to run.”

Finishing that sentence, he started to float, elevating himself a few feet above the air, while maintaining a firm grip around Ladybug’s neck. Stopping, he swiftly threw the scarlet heroine towards the ground. As she fell, she felt like she had been fired from a cannon. The impact from her body, made the ground shake momentarily, and the noise, scared every single bird that was on the trees. Her friends, who remained hidden, just wanted to jump into action and help her, but did not do it, because they knew that would ruin the whole plan.

“That was a really loud impact.” -Chloe said, as she saw the cloud of dust around the crater where Ladybug was starting to dissipate. –“ _I just hope she did not pass out._ ” -she thought to herself.

“Isn’t there something we can do to help, master?” -Kim asked Master Fu.

“No. We must trust Marinette. She knows what she’s doing.” -Master Fu told him.  

“But what if she passes out? Or what if he kills her, before she gives us the signal to intervene? We have to help her, master!” -Chloe exclaimed in a hushed voice, afraid that the Collector would hear them talking.  

“He won’t do it. According to what you told me, when he attacked you, he wanted to know the location of the remaining miraculouses. He will only kill her, after she gives him that information. As longs as she doesn’t tell him that, he will keep her alive.” -Master Fu said, trying to calm them down, though he himself was was not sure if the Collector would not just kill her for the sake of killing.   

As the cloud of dust sat, it revealed a very large crater, with at least 2 meters deep. And in its centre, was the scarlet heroine. Slowly, the Collector descended to see if she was still breathing. He admitted to himself that he might have used a little bit more of strength than he wanted to, but if the other heroes, from whom he had taken the miraculouses managed to take a true beating from him and lived, there was no reason for her not to have survived that. Touching the ground, he looked at Ladybug, and saw that she was still breathing.  

“As I said, unlike them, you did not run.” -the Collector said, as he approached her. –“And that is why, I’m going to give you a fair chance in a fight. A true warrior knows another, and you, I can see it in your eyes that you are true warrior. Unlike your friends, you will not attempt to flee in terror.”

The impact was rough, to say the least. Ladybug felt like her body was put in a blender, and then steamrolled. Still, it was that same pain that prevented her from passing out. Opening her eyes, she looked at the Collector, but only for a second, for her eyes caught a glimpse of Adrien’s figure, hiding behind one of the nearby columns. Fearing that he might be discovered by the Collector, she forced herself to get up and continue the fight. But, when she was about to get up, her body did not obey her brain, at least not right away. Unknowingly, her body was still processing the shock.

“ _So this is what happens when you don’t wear your miraculous for a couple of days… your body takes longer to react to these extreme situations… Come on, muscles, move! I’ve got to get up!_ ” -Ladybug cursed her luck, as she tried to get up, but her muscles did not obey her.   

“Come now, get up. Are you telling me that you’re not going to get up? Are you just going to accept defeat like this?” -the Collector asked her, as he waited for her to get back up.

At the same time, Alya wondered why her friend had not got up yet. But more importantly, she wondered why she did not give the signal for them to attack.

“ _What is she waiting for? You better not be dead, Marinette!_ ” –Alya thought to herself. –“ _Come on, girl, give us the signal! You had your fun with him, and this guy is literally in the best place one could ask for an ambush!_ ” 

On the ground, Ladybug was screaming internally, ordering her body to react, so she could get up.

“ _Come on, Marinette! Move! If you don’t move, he might sense the others’ presence, and if he does, everything will go down the drain!_ ” -Ladybug thought to herself. –“ _You need to get up! If not, he’s going to find Adrien, Alya, Nino and everyone else, and he’ll kill them, and it will all be your fault! Move!!!!!!_ ”

Fuelled by the fear of the Collector finding her friends and hurting them, Ladybug’s body finally snapped out of the shock and allowed her to get back on her feet. Panting heavily, she looked the Collector in the eyes.   

“No, this is far from being over, you hear me?!” -Ladybug exclaimed, as she jumped out of the crater. –“I’m just getting started!”

Seeing her back on her feet, all her friends rejoiced. Now, more than ever, they wanted to just jump into action and fight alongside her. But she had not given them the signal yet, whatever that one might be, and so, they had to wait. Inside them, the need to help, the need to put their powers to good use kept growing. Yet, they were not the only ones who rejoiced at the sight of the scarlet heroine getting back up. The Collector was also quite pleased to see her back on her feet, mainly because he wanted to keep fighting her a little longer, before he removed her miraculous, and then tortured her for the location of the remaining ones.   

“Good… it wouldn’t be much of a challenge, if I just killed you with one blow, child.” -the Collector declared.

“You’re going to need a lot more than just one blow to knock me out, mister! I’m not going down that easily.” -Ladybug told him.

Charging against him, she began to spin her yo-yo, intending to use it as both a shield and an attack weapon. Striking it against the Collector’s armour, this produced a lot of noise, but no damage. Spinning it even faster, she wanted to see if she could cut through it, as she had managed to cut through metal, and even concrete with it before. But once again, the attack proved to be a waste of time. She did not know what kind of metal that armour was made, but it looked like even magical weapons could not damage it. After letting her strike him a couple of times, the Collector attacked her with his sword, only for her dodge in the nick of time. He then, tried to grab her right arm, but she dodged it and performed a perfect roundoff, followed by several back handsprings, trying to put some distance between her and the villain.

“This guy’s tough… now I understand why the others had a difficult time dealing with him. I’ve been throwing almost everything I have against him, and nothing. Not even a scratch.” -Ladybug thought. 

“Getting tired, are we?” -the Collector asked her.

“You wish!” -Ladybug exclaimed. –“I can do this all night!” -she went on. –“You know what? I was just wondering one thing… are you going to use some of your powers? I mean, I’m not complaining or anything, but I read that you shot fire balls and could become invisible, and do other things. So why aren’t you using them? Are you afraid of being beaten by a girl?”

“Afraid?! Child, that is a word that I do not know the meaning of.” -the Collector said, as snapped his fingers, and fiery dragon appeared to his left. –“I’ve been going easy on you, but if you really want a taste of my true power, then, I’ll be happy to give it to you, my dear child.” -he smirked evilly.

The fiery dragon began to grow in size, until it was almost the size of the crematorium building, lighting up the place and increasing the nearby temperature. Seeing it growing at an alarming speed in a matter of seconds, surprised Ladybug, to say the least. She had seen images of that dragon on the television, but seeing it with her own eyes, was entirely different. 

“ _Hook, line and sink… I almost got you where I want you._ ” -Ladybug thought to herself, as the smirk on her face grew broader and broader, mimicking the dragon’s own grin. –“ _A little more, and I can call in the rest of the team… speaking of which, I got to get this thing away from them. The last thing we need is barbecued Miraculous Team with a side dish of roasted Master Fu, for the main course._ ”

Knowing where the others were hiding, she began running in the opposite direction, pretending she was scared of it. The truth was, she was slightly scared of that flaming beast, and when it began to spit fire balls against her, she became a little more scared than before. Still, she tried to remain calm and confident, as she leaping from grave to grave, heading east. The terrain was unfamiliar to her and that was good, because it also meant the Collector did not know it either. Following the two of them, the rest of the Miraculous Team tried to keep up, while also trying to stay hidden.

“Whoa, their moving really fast.” -Sabrina said, as she jumped over a grave, with Max, Rose and Juleka right behind her.

“Come on, pick up the pace!” -Alya told Nino.

“I’m coming, Alya, I’m coming.” -Nino said, as he tried not to slip in one of the gravestones.  

“Move it, slowpoke! Don’t you see Marinette is going need our help?” -Alix said, as she passed by him. Though a little scared, right then she was feeling excited more than anything, with all that was happening.  

Less luck had Master Fu. Chloe and Nathaniel, accompanied by Adrien had just passed by him, when the old man slipped and fell on his stomach. It was not a big fall and he did not hurt himself. Kim, who stayed a little behind, because he was tying one of his shoes, seeing the old master on the ground, quickly went to see if he was alright.

“Whoa, you’re alright, master?” -Kim asked him, as he checked on him.

“Y-Yes… I guess I’m not as young as I used to be.” -Master Fu said, as he got back up. Luckily, he had fallen on his stomach. If he had fallen on his back, he could have broken the urn. The fact was this one would only become unbreakable, once the sealing enchantment was performed. –“Go on, I’ll catch up to you.”

“Okay, but be careful, okay? We don’t anything to happen to you, or to that urn!” -Kim exclaimed, as he started to run, trying to catch up with the others.

At the same time, Ladybug was a little busy, trying to get away from the fiery dragon, who kept trying to flambé her. The creature moved incredibly fast, and it seemed like it had a life of its own. Each fire ball it spit agains thre scarlet heroine, missed its target, sometimes by mere centimeters. Trying t avoid it and come up with a strategy, she tried hiding behind the nearest gravestone she spooted. She hoped the amount of flowers bouquets on top of and around it allowed to conceal her from the prying eyes of the Collector and his pet fire dragon.    

“ _Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea._ ” -Ladybug thought to herself, as she hid behind the gravestone. –“ _I don’t know how, but either I call for reinforcements, or I try to force him to make that giant fire lizard go away._ ” -she thought, while trying to catch her breath. Her body began to show the first signs of fatigue, and that was not good for her. If she managed to get out of that pickle alive, she promised herself, that she would be training harder than before, to regain the stamina she had, before being forced to take off her miraculous for nearly two weeks. –“ _No, I can’t call the others, not just yet, Plus, they need to catch up… I don’t know exactly where I am, but I know that I’m really far from the crematorium and… wait, Edith Piaf?! I’m hiding behind Edith Piaf’s tomb…what are the odds of this happening? At least that explains all the flowers. Should consider myself lucky. If this was Jim Morrisson’s gravestone, the only thing I would find would be glasses filled with stale beer and empty beer cans._ ”   

“Is this hot enough for you?” -the Collector asked out loud. –“Your friends just wanted to get away from these fire balls of mine, and it seems like you’re not so different form them.” -he said, as he guided the fiery dragon, while seeing through his eyes. Having spotted the heroine, he commanded the dragon to fire against her. –“You can run, but you cannot hide, not from me, child!”  

Seeing the fire ball heading towards her, Ladybug got up and ran as fast as she could, this time heading south. If she had taken another second, she would have turned into ashes, as that fire ball hit one of the gravestones, turning it into a pile of ashes. Jumping over a few mausolea, she tried to think of a way to take out the dragon. But with her heart speeding like crazy, it was hard for her to think of an idea. And then, the massive fiery dragon disappeared from the sky. Without his brightness, everything became darker again.    

“ _H-Hey, where did that thing go?_ ” -Ladybug asked herself, as she looked up to the sky and saw that the dragon had disappeared.   

The scarlet heroine jumped over a gravestone, when she felt something grabbing her from behind. She struggled to free herself, but the next second, she felt something around her neck, tightening it. Still, she could not see what was choking her. She knew the Collector was behind it, but she did not know what kind of power he was using. And then, she saw it… or better yet, she did not. Appearing out of the blue, the Collector looked her in the eyes. It did not take long for her to understand that he had his invisibility power, combined with supersonic speed to get to where she was in a heartbeat.

“I think I was wrong about you… you’re not a true warrior. You show a lot spunk, but you’re just a little girl, who thinks she can play with the big boys.” -the Collector kept looking her in the eyes. –“It’s too bad really   

“ _Okay… I think it’s really time to call in the others. I need to send in a signal… But what kind of signal?! It has to be something that they might see from anywhere in the cemetery, in case they’re not nearby…_ ” -Ladybug thought, as the Collector tightened his grip aroung her neck. For the second time that night, she was in that situation.

As the Collector readied himself to cut her into pieces with his sword, Ladybug did her best to free herself from the Collector’s grip, she tried to remain calm, though it was not easy, mainly due to the lack of oxygen. It seemed like there was no way out of that pickle. Still, one idea came to her mind; use her yo-yo to grab something and then throw it at the Collector’s face, breaking his focus. Moving her eyes to the left, and then to the right, while using her good luck power, she saw a vase on top of a grave, not too far from where they were. Having only one shot, she reached for yo-yo and launched towards the vase. After that, she yanked it and hurled the vase against the Collector’s face. As she hoped for, the Collector let go of her, allowing her to put some distance between him.    

“Ouch! If he keeps doing that to my throat, I’m might end up without a voice… Okay, now for the signal. How am I going to signal the others?” -Ladybug thought to herself, as she climbed a nearby mausoleum. Once more, she used her good luck power, hoping it would help her to find something she could use to signal her teammates. Her eyes scanned the place around her, but apart from graves, vases, flowers, bushes and trees, there seemed to be nothing else… nothing that could help her signal them. And then, she saw it. About 55 yards to her left was a pick-up truck; no doubt one used by the cemetery’s workers. That was what she was going to use to signal the others, and let them know they could show themselves. –“That’s it! But to do this, I’m going to need that cretin’s help.” -she said.

Jumping into the air, she performed a perfect sommersault, landing a few feet from where the Collector stood.   

“Looks like it’s not just spunk I got. Looks like I actually have all that is needed to fight guys like you.” -Ladybug told him. –“But it seems to me that you’re a lot or bark and no bite at all!” -she mocked him. –“You can’t even reduce me to ashes with one of your fire balls!”

Enraged by those words, the Collector’s left gauntlet began to glow, as he shot a fire ball against the scarlet herone, who managed to dodge him.

“You will regret those words, child.” –the Collector wauled at Ladaybug.

“Oh yeah? Then, make me regret them… fire away and I promise I’ll try to be as slow as a turtle, so you can hit me!” -Ladybug laughed sarcastically, while throwing a joke that rivalled with ones shot by Antelope. –“Come on, I’m standing right here!” -she exclaimed.

“Insolent child! You will pay for those insults with your life!” -Collector yelled at her.

As she hoped for, her insults and mockery had ticked the Collector enough, for him to try and do something a little more reckless, which was just what she needed. Her plan to signal the rest of her team was quite simple. All she needed to do was to make sure the villain shot one of his fire balls against the pick-up truck, and hope it would explode, alerting the others.  

“Come on! Over here!” -Ladybug said, as she kept leaping from side to side. –“I know I said I would try to move as slow as a turtle, but the way you’re throwing those things at me, I might just have to move as slow as a snail, instead!” -she joked. She did not even know she could make jokes like that, and wondered if that was not a side effect form being a little nervous.

The Collector shot a couple of more fire balls at the scarlet heroine, failing to hit her. Determined to finish her off and get her miraculous, he was going to employ something a little more drastic. He did not know if she would survive his next attack, but after hearing those insults, the part of him that wanted her dead, did not mind if she died. If she survived the attack, he would take her miraculous from her and then torture her, into revealing the location of the other miraculouses. But, if she died, we would settle himself with her miraculous.  

“Let’s see if you can dodge this one.” -the Collector said.

Conjuring a larger fire ball, he threw it at Ladybug, who dodged it, thinking that would be that. But this one was entirely different from the previous ones. This one could be described as a hear-seeking fire ball, because it would follow its target, wherever this one went, and its target was Ladybug. Noticing the fire ball making a U-turn, and heading back to where she was, the scarlet heroine dodged it once more. It did not take her long to understand that she had become a moving target.

“Great, just what I needed!” –Ladybug exclaimed, as she ran as fast her legs allowed her.

“Like I said, you can run, but you cannot hide, little girl. This fire ball will follow you to the ends of the Earth, if it has to.” -the Collector yelled at her.

The fire ball kept chasing the scarlet heroine, while she tried to find a way to get rid of it. Still, that was easier said than done, because that thing was sticking to her like glue.

“I got to think of a way out of this mess! This thing is going to follow me wherever I go… Wait a minute! This thing is going to follow me wherever I go! I know what I have to do!” -Ladybug thought to herself, as she ran towards the pick-up truck.

Having come up with a plan to make the best of that situation, Ladybug slowed down a little, so the fire ball could catch up to her. Once she saw it was close enough to her, she began sprinting to the pick-up truck. When she was only a few feet from truck, she slid to the right, at the very last second, while the fire ball hit the vehicle. The result, a large explosion that burned everything in a 12-yard radius, sent the pick-up truck flying through the air, just before what was left of it landed on some nearby gravestones. The noise caused by both the explosion was enough to wake up the dead, and pretty much everyone in that neighbourhood. If the scarlet heroine had not been as fast as she was, she would have been caught by the explosion and shared the same fate as the poor innocent flowers that adorned so many graves. But like always, luck was on her side, and apart from a couple of scratches and a light sunburn caused by the explosion, she was alright.      

“Alright, it’s time to call in the cavalry.” -Ladybug smirked. –“ _Come on, guys, if you wanted to power-up and take this guy down, now’s the time._ ” -she thought to herself.


	21. Showdown at the Cemetery

The explosion caused by the Collector, when his giant fire ball hit the pick-up truck, belonging to the cemetery’s workers, and sent it flying through the air, was quite violent and was heard in a mile radius. If people had not heard the commotion coming from the cemetery, when Ladybug and the Collector began fighting each other, then they heard that for sure. It would not be long until the nearby residents and people were hanging around the area, to start calling the police and ask them to investigate it, as well as the firemen. Around the area where the explosion, looked like a disaster zone, similar to the ones where a bomb went off, wipping out all that was standing. Everything was covered in flames. Ladybug herself would have been blown to bits, or the very least covered in flames, if she had not the physical prowess that allowed her to get away from the explosion.      

“I really hope the others understood that this was the signal I told them I would send to call them to battle.” -Ladybug thought to herself, as she looked around, trying to spot the Collector, who disappeared. –“Where is that guy? Did he become invisible again?!”

She hardly had the time to finish that thought, when she felt something, a hand, grabbing her by the shoulder, pulling her backwards, and then turning her around, just as another hand grabbed her her neck, squeezing it, lightly at first, and then harder, till the point that it was almost impossible for her to breath. The Collector had turned invisible once again, he had merely used his incredible speed to place himself behind Ladybug and surprise her.

“I’ve got to start looking behind my back more often…” -Ladybug thought to herself. It was the only rational thought she could think of, as she felt herself being deprived of oxygen.

“You’ve managed to escape my fire ball. Still, that will not change the outcome of this fight. You will still die, and your miraculous will be mine. But not before you tell me where the other miraculouses are.” -the Collector told her, looking her in the eyes. –“Do you have any last words, before I remove your miraculous? Some final, over the top words, as you youngsters feel so compelled to say, when you are seemingly in trouble? If you do, I’m listening.” -he said, as he loosened his grip on the heroine’s neck.   

“J-Just you wait…” -Ladybug whispered.

“For what?” -the Collector asked her.

“F-For that…” -Ladybug said, forcing a smile, knowing fully well that help had arrived.

Before the villain could understand what was going on, he sensed the energy of another miraculous nearby, as he was struck on the back. The pain caused by such struck, forced him to release Ladybug, as he kneeled down momentarily in pain. Turning his head, he saw none other than handsome and flatterer Chat Noir, bearing his trustworthy staff, as he showed his dashing debonair smile to his secret crush, the scarlet heroine.  

“Good evening, milady!” -Chat greeted Ladybug, always smiling at her.

“T-Took you long enough…” -Ladybug smiled back at him.

“Well, it was hard to know if that big explosion was your signal to come and help you, or not, although I figured it was.” -Chat joked.

“A-And what if it wasn’t? -Ladybug joked back.

“Then… well, to tell you the truth I just wanted to put on my ring and come and help you, milady. Are you alrigh?” -Chat asked her, as she waved her head. After seeing the heroine was alright, he turned his attention to the Collector who was still kneeled on the ground. –“You shouldn’t have picked up with her, man. She had a tendency to have luck on her side, as well as a friend nearby when she needs the most.” -he said.

Looking at Chat Noir, it did not more than a second for the Collector to realize he was in the presence of the bearer of the black cat miraculous. Another villain would have been furious, after being interrupted, when he was about to take the miraculous from Ladybug. But not the Collector. In fact, seeing Chat, he was incredibly pleased, because that would mean he would get the opportunity to get two miraculouses that night, instead of just one. Plus, if he did kill one of the heroes by accident, before he could find the location of the remaining miraculouses, he could always torture and question the other.

“So, another miraculous holder has decided to show himself to me… I’m honoured.” -the Collector said, as he pulled himself up.

“Not one, buddy… all of them.” -Chat Noir said.

“W-What?!”

Suddenly, the Collector sensed the energy of more miraculouses nearby, and from out of the shadows, the rest of the team, minus Chloe and Kim, showed up, looking determined to end him and his threat. After putting their miraculouses back on and transform, they all felt like they could do anything, and that was just what they needed to feel, for the battle that Ladybug had begun, was far from being over, and they would have to play their cards wisely if they wanted to win it. As for Chloe and Kim, they remained hidden nearby, along with Master Fu, waiting for their friends to get their miraculouses back, so they could also join the fight. Looking at them, the Collector immediately recognized Louve Grise, as one of the girls he fought, when he got the bee miraculous from its holder. The word “thrilled” is the closest one to describe how he felt about having them all there. To him, the heroes showing up like that, it was like he had won the jackpot.      

“Amazing! I thought I would have to kill your leader to find out where the rest of you was hiding, and instead, here you are… all of you.” -the Collector exclaimed.

“Yeah, we got tired of hiding and decided to come and tell you that we’re not afraid of you, anymore.” -Carapace told him.

“That, and we also decided to take you down.” -Grizzly Bear told him.  

“Take me down, you say?” –the Collector said, before bursting into laughs. You could hear the madness and the disdain in his laughter. He laughed –“Do you even know what you just said? Do you truly believe that you stand a ghost of a chance against me?”

“Oh, I don’t know… but if I had to say anything, I would say, yes! So far, you’ve been picking on us, one by one. But you haven’t picked on all of us at the same time.” -Dragonfly said. –“Even when you were defeated the first time, you only went up against 6 miraculous holders. Look around, even with two of our own down for the count, there are still 12 of us to teach you the meaning of the word “pain”, man.” -she declared. –“So yeah, I think we have pretty good chances of defeating you.”

What she said was true, and the Collector knew it. When he was first defeated, he only battled against 6 miracullus holders. But those 6 holders were experienced warrors, who gave him a lot of fight, while the Miraculous Heroes were still inexperienced, when compared to him. If they were on the same level as the ones who defeated him, they would have been able to take him down before he could remove the miraculous of one of them, and so far, he had been able to take two miraculouses. They were twelve and he was just one, but each one of them only had one special ability, which he believed they had not been able to fully master, while he had twelve, which he had mastered a long time ago.   

“We’re going to defeat you. Make no mistake about it.” -Flamingo warned him.

“But before we do that, you have two miraculouses that don’t belong to you.” -Corbeau Noire said. –“We want them back!”

“You want these back… well, then you’ll have to do much better then your friends have done so far.” –the Collector said, as he pointed at the two golden squares in his belt, that were once the bee miraculous and the antelope miraculous.

“Gladly.” -Flamingo said, as she used her multiplication power, and created ten copies of herself, ready to begin the fight. The truth was, her intent was to create more than twenty, but like it happened with Ladybug, she silently realized that she too was suffering the effects from not wearing her miraculous lately. –“We’re going to mop up the floor with you!” -the Flamingos exclaimed in chorus.     

“Very well, come at me.” -the Collector said, defiantly.

“ _This guy is in for a surprise._ ” -Carapace thought to himself, as he looked at the villain, who believed he had the victory in the bag.

“Do you wish to come at me all at once, or one at the time?” -the Collector asked them, with an almost mocking voice. –“If you want to fight me one at the time, until there’s none of you left alive, that’s fine. But, if you all want to come at me at once, I do not have any problems with it either. I will get your miraculouses one way or another, and then, my mission can finally be fulfilled.” -he said, truly believing the heroes did not stand a chance against him.

Still hidden in the shadows, behind a couple of gravestones, Chloe, Kim and Master Fu observed as the final battle against the Collector was about to start. The three were nervous, worried about their friends’ well-being, but also worried about the final outcome of that battle. But the worst part of all that, was that because of tnot having their miraculouses, the two of them were being forced to stay there along with Master Fu, for their own protection. In a way, they felt like football players who are left om the bench, instead of being sent into the field to play. 

“I’m worried.” -Kim sighed.  

“Me too… what I wouldn’t give to be over there with the rest of them.” -Chloe said. –“I feel so useless, just standing right here, not doing anything.”

“You ain’t the only one.” -Kim sighed.

“Patience, you two.” -Master Fu said. –“You both need to be patient and wait. They will get your miraculous back, and once they do, you two will also be able to join them in the fight.” -he told them. –“But until then, the only thing you can do is to give them moral support, by believing in them.”  

As they waited for the outcome, the first one to go up against the Collector was none other than Grizzly Bear. The holder of the bear miraculous had not punch a bad guy in weeks, and right then, he just wanted to turn that guy into pulp. Telling the others to not interfere, he was going to fight the Collector alone, figuring they all could prolong that fight a little longer. Ladybug did not like the idea, believing that they should just stick to the plan, which was to tick him off. By experience, they all knew that an enemy who lost its cool or had its ego boasted by a seemingly easy win, was easier to fight, and naturally, to catch off-guard. But she did not say a thing, and allowed him to go on with that plan of his, feeling that he should at least test the Collector, to see just who he was up against, and to blow off some steam.

“ _Maybe I shouldn’t allow this… but, then again, we’re all here, and if things start to get complicated, we just have to attack him at the same time._ ” -Ladybug thought to herself. –“ _Plus, something tells me that Ivan has got a plan… everyone always thinks that just because he looks like a brute, that he doesn’t use his brain very much. But they’re wrong. Ivan is actually a great strategist._ ” -she thought, hoping that she was right about it.    

Gritting his teeth, he charged against him, not wanting to give him the chance to even react. But, as he was about to land a punch on the guy’s face, the Collector disappeared, only to reappear behind him, strucking him down with a well-placed kick on the back.

“Grizzly!” -Arachnid exclaimed, seeing his friend on the ground.

“I’m okay… he just c-caught me off-guard.” -Grizzly said as he got back up. –“It won’t happen again.”

“Oh, really?” -the Collector said, as he appeared in front of him. –“You youngsters really have no idea how your miraculouses work. If you did… if you could tap into their amazing and unique powers, you would probably be a match against me. But I can see that neither you, or any of your friends will ever be able to do it.” -he said. –“I will be the winner here, and you… well, I will make sure that the world will not forget your sacrifice, when I tell it how you tried to stop me from achieving my purpose, which is to bring peace and justice to the righteous ones, only to be defeated.”

“You’re talking big, but let’s see if you keep talking like that, after you have a demonstration of what a good beating is.” -Grizzly said, as he made his brass knuckles magically appear on his hands. –“Get ready to eat a knuckle sandwich!” 

Throwing himself at the villain, who was caught by surprise, Grizzly delivered a series of powerful blows to the Collector’s chest, ribs and shoulders. Each punch he delivered, the metallic sound of his brass knuckles hitting against the Collector’s armour echoed through the air. He was giving everything he had, but no matter what he did, it seemed like he was not able to cause any damage to the villain’s armour, or any kind of pain to his body. This went on for what looked like an eternity, with the rest of the team staring at the fight, as if this one was boxing match. And when it ended, it ended abruptly, with the Collector making use of the power from the ox miraculous. Granting himself even more superhuman strength, he punched Grizzly Bear on the face with such strength that the poor hero felt like he had been hit by a dozen speeding trucks at the same time. Only his stubbornness allowed him to keep conscient, instead of passing out. Landing hard on the ground, he tried to get back on his feet and resume the fight, only to be stopped by the Collector, who shoved his sword in his face. The blade was mere millimetres from his face, and Grizzly could tell that that was one sharp blade, just by looking at it. If he wanted to, the Collector could slice him into bits, and he would not be able to do a thing about it. And the same could be said by the remaining heroes. If they tried to rescue him, the Collector would cut of his neck, before they could do anything about it.    

“You lose, my boy.” -the Collector said, triumphantly.

“It ain’t over, until I say it’s over, man” -Grizzly Bear told him.  

“You still believe that you can win me? I could easily kill you, right where you stand, before your friends could do anything about it, and then take your miraculous.” -the Collector said.

“No… but she does.” -Grizzly Bear smirked.

What the Collector did not know, was that while he was fighting Grizzly Bear, Forest Doe had used her invisibility power, to get behind him and shoot a pair of arrows at his back. The arrows did not affect him, but it gave Grizzly an opening for him to strike the villain, and to also get out of that situation. Using both his feet, he kicked the Collector in the shins, as hard as he could. This made him fall, after which Grizzly quickly got up and rsn to a nearby, climbing it and then, throwing himself at the villain, performing a perfect diving elbow drop on him. Still, no matter how strong that move was, he knew it had not hurt him. But it did not matter. His plan was never to hurt the Collector. It was only to piss him off.

“You’ll pay for that!!!” –the Collector yelled, clearly not having enjoyed what had just happened.

“What’s the matter? You can play dirty with all your powers, but I can’t play dirty, by having a friend help me out?!” -Grizzly Bear shot at him, trying to piss him off even more.

“I tried to be civilized, but if you and your friends want to do this the hard way, while using cheap tricks, then I have no problem with using them as well.” -the Collecor declared.

“You heard him, everyone! Let’s show this guy what we’re really made of!” -Chat Noir exclaimed, as he extended his staff and got ready to kick some butt. –“And for the sake of things, don’t be afraid to use dirty tricks.” -he smirked to the Collector, who did not like it.  

Not withholding on their powers, all the heroes charged against the villain with everything they had. Now that they had managed to tick off the Collector, and break his focus, the Miraculous Team believed they were halfway through their ordeal, or at the very least, a quarter of the way to win that fight. Using both single attacks and combined attacks, they were determined to not even let the Collector catch his breath. Still, just like it happened with Ladybug, Flamingo and Grizzly Bear, they all felt the effects of not carrying their miraculouses for a couple of weeks, as their habilities felt diminished and their attacks proved to be less powerful than usual. But that did not prevent them from attacking the Collector, who was forced to use more of his unique abilities to deal with the heroes’ attacks.

Such a fight, like all great fights the heroes fought before, managed to catch the eyes, or in this case, the attention of the people in Paris. Outside the cemetery walls, people wondered what was going on. Those who were fortunate enough to live in a building with a view to the cemetery saw that such a battle was taking place, even though they could not make it out who the heroes were fighting, or which heroes were present. Even with the best cell phone cameras, they still could not see what was truly happening, and could only speculate. Still, they wasted no time in calling both the police and alerting the media, by posting what was going on online. Two of such a people were a couple on one of the nearby buildings, who was trying to see the battle, using their cell phones cameras, without much results.      

“What do you think is going on?” -he asked.

“I don’t know, but whatever it is it’s got to be one of that Hawk Moth’s creatures. What other reason would there be for Ladybug and the others to be fighting?” -she pointed out.

“And how do you know it’s them?” -he asked.

“Who else has powers like those in Paris? I mean, we can’t see it very well, but it has to be them, right?” -she told him. –“I wish we had more powerful cameras on these phones. I can barely see anything.” -she said. –“Let’s just hope a helicopter from one of the news channel gets here fast to capture what’s going on.”

While the citizens of Paris argued on what was going on, the battled raged on. The Collector was partially surprised with the team’s coordination, as he did not expect the young heroes to have that kind of coordination. He had observed it when he fought Queen Bee and Louve Grise, but never thought that all of them were that coordinated. When Arachnid lassoed him and Dragonfly hit him repeatedly with her frisbee, he decided that he would have to start taking them all seriously. And to do that, he was going to make use of his rocky mineral manipulation power, which the sheep miraculous granted him. Managing to break free from Arachnid’s lasso, he then used the sheep miraculous’ power to pull from the ground every nearby gravestone, and then launch them at the heroes, who were not expecting it. Some, like Rena Rouge, Forest Doe and Dragonfly were able to dodge them, but the rest were not so lucky, being hit by the large pieces of rock, just before falling on the ground. As for Rena Rouge, Dragonfly and Forest Doe, who managed to escape, the Collector had something special saved for them. He had not used the power granted to him by the pig miraculous, ever since he was released from his enchanted prison, but he figured the two of them, who had managed to evade his last attack, deserved something special. The power of possession was incredibly powerful, because it granted the Collector the power to control whoever he wished. But it had one disadvantage. He could only use it for a short period of time, as it drained him of his energy quite rapidly. The girls tried to fight it at first, but none of their training had taught them to resist mind-controlling attacks, as their eyes turned white and their bodies stiff. Seeing them under his control, he knew that now they were under his control, he could make them kill each other or perhaps, attack the remaining heroes into submission, making use of their powers. But that was not going to happen, foe he knew he had to hurry, before that power consumed too much of his strength.        

“Don’t try to resist. You fougth as bravely as you could. But in the end, your miraculouses are mine.” -the Collector said, as he approached Dragonfly, without taking his eyes of her miraculous. –“The dragonfly miraculous. Combined with antelope miraculous I already posess, I will be the fastest creature on the planet.” -he said, as he prepared himself to take her miraculous formher neck, when he was struck on the back by something.

“Hey! Let them go, ugly!” -Chloe yelled at the Collector, as she threw another stone at him. The blonde, seeing their friends in trouble, decided to get out of her hiding spot and try to help them. Master Fu and Kim tried to stop her, but in the end, they were unable to do it.

Looking at her, it took the Collector a couple of seconds to remember who she was, because she was wearing different clothes.  

“Well, if it isn’t the little girl who was the holder of the bee miraculous.” -the Collector said. –“Have you come to get it back?”

“You bet I have! But first, let my friends go, you monster!” –Chloe exclaimed, as she threw another rock at him. This one, however, instead of hitting its target, stopped in mid-air by the Collector, who threw it back at her, grazing her left cheek with a cut that promptly bled a little bit. –“Ouch! Watch it! I need both my eyes in perfect condition, buster!” -she shot at him.

“Foolish, little girl. You should consider yourself lucky you did manage to escape me the other day. If you do not want me to finish what I started a few days ago, I suggest that you run away.” -the Collector warned her.

“I’d rather die alongside my friends, than to run like a coward, you monster!” -Chloe yelled at him, as she kept pressing her fingers over her cheek, trying to stop the blood. It was true, she did not have her miraculous, and she could not fight him, without risking losing her life in the process. But even so, she was not going to run. Not when her friends were in trouble.

“Freeze, idiot!” -Louve Grise exclaimed, as she sneaked upon the Collector and used her ice breath to once more freeze him, just like she did, when he was about to kill Chloe a few days before, caughting him off guard. Covering him in a thick layer of ice, the wolf heroine could not believe that the same trick had worked twice. –“Thanks for the assist, Chloe, but you’ve got to hide again. This isn’t safe for you.” -she warned her.

“Alright, but be careful, okay? The last thing I need is a dead best-friend!” -Chloe told her, as she quickly ran away.    

Covered in ice, the Collector lost control over Dragonfly, Rena Rouge and Forest Doe, who fell on the ground, a little dizzy. Still, they quickly got back up, as they saw the others also getting up. 

“I don’t know about you, but I think it’s time for us to go into the last part of our plan, before any of us ends up hurt.” -Ladybug told Rena Rouge, as she got back up and saw the Collector starting to melt the ice that covered him with one more of his special abilities. After watching Chloe trying to save Rena Rouge and the others, who were under the Collector’s possession spell, she knew that battle had gone for far too long. It was time for the Collector to be trapped, whether they felt they were ready to do it, or not.  

“Do you think it’s safe? He still doesn’t look very tired. He’s ticked off, no doubt about it, but not tired.” -Rena Rouge asked her.

“I know that, and I thought I could tire him up a bit, when I first engaged him, but I think that he has a lot more energy that we thought he would have.” -the scarlet heroine told her best friend. –“We’ll just have to risk it and hope for the best. Besides, it’s like Tony Stark says “Sometimes you gotta run before you can walk.”, you know?” -she said.

“Are you actually quoting Iron Man, right now?” –Dragonfly asked her.

“What?! Max over there isn’t the only one who get to be a nerd and a geek when he wants to you know?” -Ladybug chuckled. She had learned a long time that sometimes laughter is the best medicine, for someone who’s anxious or nervous, and right then, she was both.

“Let’s focus on what we need to do, people!” -Carapace said.

“Okay, then first things first. I’m going to need to create a little illusion to help us all out.” -Rena Rouge said, as she thought of one.

“Well, when it comes to creating illusions, you’re the expert. By the way, do you remember the words you must say in order for the spell to work?” -Ladybug asked her.    

(Flashback)

_Master Fu had just given the last of the miraculouses he had bestowed with the magical ability to remove the armour from the Collector, and advised the young heroes to take the afternoon off and relax, when Mylene asked him a question regarding a subject he was going to address next._

_“One question, master. How do we activate this power? Is there a phrase we must say, just like when we do, when we want to destroy an akuma butterfly?” –Mylene asked him._

_“Very perceptive, Mylene.” -Master Fu smiled. –“Indeed. It follows the same principle as the formula that you speak, when you want to destroy an akuma butterfly.”_

_“So, what’s the phrase this time?” -Adrien asked him._

_“The phrase is “Miraculous Protection, Miraculous Conclusion.”. Once you say that, your weapons will begin to glow, and you’ll have one shot to remove one of the pieces from the Collector’s suit of armour.” -the old master explained._

_“No offense, master, but that phrase sounds a bit…” -Alix declared._

_“Strange? Yes, I admit it, but it was best translation I could come up with. You wouldn’t want to know the original Chinese formula and just how hard it would be for you all to pronounce it.” -Master Fu told her._

_“Still, sounds pretty easy to remember.” -Marinette said. –“One shot, huh? Then, we’ll have to make it count.”_

_“What about the miraculouses that are on his belt? Do we have to say that as well in order to retrieve them back, master?” -Rose asked him._

_“Yes, my dear. It follows the same principle.” -Master Fu answered her. –“Because right now, the bee miraculous and the antelope miraculouses are part of his belt. But once one of you uses that formula, and strikes him in his belt with your weapon, the miraculouses will fall from it, and you’ll have to retrieve them.” -he explained._

(End of Flashback)

“Of course, I remember… in fact, I think there isn’t one of us who doesn’t remember the words.” -Rena Rouge declared. –“And we better make this fast, because that guy is about to stop being an icicle, and with all the racket that we’ve been causing, the police and the media are probably on their way.”

“One more reason for us to hurry up. The last thing we need is to put any civillians in danger.” -Ladybug said. –“But first things, first. We need to get Kim and Chloe’s miraculouses back, before we start pulling his armour out, piece by piece.”

“Leave that to me. Just come up with an illusion that will keep him occupied, somehow.” -Chat Noir told the girls, volunteering himself to get the miraculouses from the Collector’s belt.

Breaking out of the ice, the Collector let out an inhuman roar, that would make the bravest of men trmble in fear. He was mad, to say the least. Having been tricked by the same person, with the same trick as before, it was something he could not forgive himself for.

“You’re going to have to do better than that, if you wish to defeat me, children!” -the Collector roared in anger, just as he saw himself, once again, caught in another trick by the heroes.

To make sure Chat Noir was able to get near the Collector, before he realized what was going on, Rena Rouge used her powers to create an illusion to distract the villain. Quickly, thick, dark smoke appeared out of nowhere and everything around the Collector became pitch black. Looking around, he could not see a thing in front of him. But Chat Noir, he could see everything, thanks to his cat-like powers. Even in the darkest of nights, he could see in the dark. Charging inside the darkness that surrounded the Collector, the black-cat hero knew that what he was about to do, would mark the beginning of the end of that fight, given that he would not miss his target. 

“Miraculous Armour, Miraculous Conclusion!” -Chat Noir exclaimed, as the tip of his staff started to glow red. Swinging it, he hit the Collector right into his belt, which caused this one to glow red, and to project the villain through the air at incredible speed.

Hitting a few mausolea, when projected, the Collector was once again surprised by one of the heroes’ attacks that came out of nowhere. As for the miraculouses, these two fell from the Collector’s belt, before returning to their original appearance, dropping into the ground. Dragonfly, who was up in the air, noticed where the two had landed, and dove into the ground, to retrieve them. Grabbing them both, she knew it was time for her to return them to their rightful owners.   

Still hidden, Chloe, Kim and Master Fu could only imagine what was going on. After Chloe’s stunt to try and save Louve Grise, Master Fu forced her and Kim to stay out of sight, for their own safety, even if that meant they could not see what was going on. At first glimpse, no one could see them. But when you have an aerial view of everything that is going on, like Dragonfly did, it was easy to spot them, hidden behind a couple of bushes. Diving, she went to meet them. Her arrival spooked them for a second, before they realized it was just her, and not the Collector.    

“Did someone asked for two miraculouses to go?!” -Dragonfly said, as she opened both hands and showed the bee and antelope miraculouses to the three of them. –“Because I’ve got two right here.” -she smirked.  

“About time!” -Kim exclaimed, as he grabbed his miraculous.  

“Thanks, Alix.” –Chloe said, as she grabbed the bee miraculous.

“Good work.” -Master Fu praised her.

“Thanks, master. But now, I’ve got to go back and see if I can help. Once that guy understands what we’re really doing, if he hasn’t already, I bet everything I have that he’s going to try and cut our heads with that sword of his.” -Dragonfly said, as she took off into the sky.

“Not without me, you’re not going.” -Kim said. –“It’s just too bad that we won’t be able to help the others with the next part of the plan. Still, I’m going to enjoy beating that guy, until he begs for mercy.” -he declared, as he was about to put on his miraculous, when Master Fu prevented him from doing it.   

“Fear not. You two will also be able to remove the parts of the Collector’s armour I need you all to remove, before I trap him.” -Master Fu said, as he opened his backpack and took a little vial with a reddish liquid inside it. –“When I made the potion that was poured on the other miraculouses for such effect, I made a little bit more and saved it, so I could use it on your miraculouses. -he said. –“Now, put your miraculouses on the floor, please. And you might want to take a step back, just in case.”

Doing as they were told, Chloe and Kim placed their miraculouses on the floor and took a step back, as Master Fu knelt down in front of the miraculouses and opened the vial, pouring its content over the the bee comb and the antelope bracelet. Speaking a few words in what the teenagers believed to be Chinese, or some other Asian language, the miraculouses began to glow red for a brief moment. As the old master finished the enchantment, the red glow disappeared.

“There, it’s done. You’re ready to go.” -Master Fu said, as he got back up.    

Hearing the old master say those words, Kim grabbed his miraculous, with Chloe following his move. As he put it on, a shiny ball of light appeared in front of his eyes, revealing his kwami, Imp.

“Hey buddy!” -Kim smiled.

“Kim! Great to see you!” -Imp told him. Kim could not imagine just how happy his kwami was for being free once again.

“Me too, buddy. Look, I know that I owe you a really big apology and an explanation of everything that’s going on, but could we talk about it later, and now go and teach that Collector a lesson?” -Kim asked the little kwami.

“Sure. Let’s do it.” -Imp told him. He was not the kind of kwami to hold a grudge. –“You know what you have to say.” -the antelope kwami said.

“Imp, transforme-moi!” -Kim exclaimed, as he transformed into Antelope.

“Hold your horses. I’m going too!” -Chloe said, as she put her miraculous on, and a shiny ball of light appeared in front of her, revealing her kwami, Pollen.

“Chloe!” –Pollen exclaimed, as she looked her holder in the eyes. –“I missed you so much!” -the little kwami said.

“I’ve missed you too, Pollen. Sorry if I let that guy get your miraculous and…” -Chloe tried to apologize, when she was interrupted by Pollen.

“No, no, no! No apologies! Not now! You can apologize later, and I’ll be happy to hear everything you have to say. But right now, you’ve got to transform and help the others deal with the Collector!” -Pollen told her.  

“How did you…”

“Just because I was stuck inside my miraculous and this one was turned into an accessory for that guy to wear on his belt, doesn’t mean I couldn’t hear what was going on.” -Pollen told her. –“Now, come on! Say the magic words and let’s go kick some butt.” -the bee kawami

“You’re right. It’s time for Queen Bee to make her entrance.” -Chloe said. –“Pollen, transforme moi!”

With those words, Chloe turned into Queen Bee, and once again, she was ready for action.

“It feels great to be back!” -Queen Bee said, when she and the others heard an explosion. –“Uh-oh, that can’t be good.”

“You think?!”  -Antelope asked her sarcastically.

“Well, don’t just stand there. Go help the others.” -Master Fu told them. –“I’ll get ready for the last part of the plan. Tell the others to send some sort of signal, when it’s time for me to show up.” -he warned them.

“We will, master.” -Queen Bee said.

“Yeah, we will. Now if you don’t mind, there’s a certain psycho who’s about to get his face broken into several pieces, by me and my bat.” -Antelope declared.       


	22. Fiery Demon

Hurrying to join the others, Antelope and Queen Bee had only one thought on their minds… revenge. The Collector had stolen their miraculouses, turned them into golden tiles and placed them in his belt, leaving them without the objects that enabled them to jump into action and protect the city of Paris. But worst than that, he had stolen their kwamis, who had become important beings in their lives, and made them suffer the anguish of possibly never seeing them again. And now, they just wanted to make him pay for that.

The battle raged on, with the other heroes attacking the Collector. With the exception of Chat Noir, who had used the removal spell to get the miraculouses from the villain's belt, the rest of the heroes still had not used it, and were waiting for the right moment to use it. As for the Collector, it seemed like he did not realize that he had lost the miraculouses that were in his belt. And that was a good thing, because if he had, he would have probably realized that the heroes had managed to do something that he considered impossible, and that would have alerted him to something that was wrong.

Arachnid had just caught the Collector with his lasso, when Flamingo used her special power to multiply herself, so as to give the spider hero a hand. The Collector had managed to destroy all the copies she had made of herself, except two, so she had to create a few more. This turned out to be a little more difficult than she wanted to admit, and instead of creating 10 more, she was only able to create 6 more. She was beginning to run out of strength, and she knew it. Not having worn her miraculous for sometime, her powers were not as strong as one would want. Still, she tried focusing on helping her friend, holding the Collector, so the other heroes could try and take him out, without risking their safety.

"Hold him steady!" -Arachnid exclaimed, as he tightened his lasso around the Collector's arms and legs.

"We're trying!" -Flamingo and her copies exclaimed in chorus. –"But he's too strong!" -they said, as they pulled the lasso, helping Arachnid restraining him. The whole scene looked like the Avengers attempt to restrain Thanos to get the Inifnity Gauntlet from him on Infinity War.

"You can do it! I know you can!" -Corbeau Noire exclaimed, as she too used her power over the shadows to help restain him. –"Show this brute that you're not just a pretty face, okay?!" -she said, trying to cheer the blonde up, into not giving in due to fatigue.

She did not know if those words she had heard from her girlfriend had helped, but the truth was that suddenly, Flamingo and her copies felt a lot stronger than before. Using that newfound strength, the pink heroine and her copies did their best to make sure the Collector would not move an inch from where he was.

"Alright, it's time we end this! Aim for the chest piece!" -Ladybug exclaimed. –" _Let's get this guy on his knees._ " -she thought to herself.

"I'm on it!" -Grizzly yelled, as he charged against the Collector. –"Miraculous Armour! Miraculous Conclusion!"

Saying those words, Grizzly's brass knuckles began to glow red, as he jumped onto the Collector, and nailed them on the villain's chestplate. When he did it, the Collector screamed in pain, trying to understand what was going on, as the magic in the hero's brass knuckles began to spread over the chestplate.

"If you want to scream, go ahead, scream! But that won't stop me from pulling this piece of your armour from you!" -Grizzly grinned, as he began to pull the chestplate.

The Collector, feeling something was wrong, he tried to release himself from Arachnid, Flamingo and Corbeau Noire's grip. He tried to use the ox's power to grant him the strength to break free, but this proved impossible. In his mind, he began to think of how could that be? And then it hit him. The reason he could not tap into the ox's power, had to do with that red glow that was coming from Grizzly Bear's brass knuckles. And not being able to use that power was just one of the things that was happening to him. He could feel that part of him was being pulled out. It was then that he understood what was going on. The heroes were trying to remove his armour, so he could not use his powers. But just because he could not use one of his powers, did not mean he could not use the other powers he had. Appealing to the power of telekinesis granted to him by the dog miraculous, he quickly placed all the heroes under his spell. The first thing he did was to throw Grizzly Bear to the side, quite violently, before throwing the rest of the heroes, who could not move an inch, as well, making them crash either ron the floor or against any nearby tree or gravestone. Once Grizzly Bear let go of him, he felt that he had once again regained the power of the ox miraculous.

"You! You dare to face me and to prevent me from accomplishing my sacred mission by trying to take my armour away?! You will pay for that, you insignificant fools!" -the Collector roared. One could hear the rage that had been growing for the past few seconds inside him, in his voice. –"And I'm going to start with you!" -he yelled at Grizzly Bear, who was still on the ground, after hitting a nearby grave. –"You've been trying to defeat me, ever since I laid my eyes on you… well, I guess you're about to find out what happens when you try to prevent the only person who can turn this world into a paradise, from fulfilling his mission. Don't worry, when I cut off your head, you won't feel a thing…"

Aiming his sword, the Collector readied himself to cut off Grizzly Bear's head, when he was struck on the back, forcing him to drop his sword as well as the hero. Turning around he was almost speechless, as he saw both Antelope and Queen Bee standing there. It took him a few seconds to fully realize that the miraculouses he had managed to collect from the young heroes were not in his belt anymore.

"H-How…" -the Collector stuttered.

"How is this possible?" -Queen Bee asked him rhetorically.

"You ain't the only one with tricks up your sleeve, mister." -Antelope said. –"But it doesn't take much to realize what happened. Our friends stole our miraculouses back from you. And now, you're going to pay for stealing them from us in the first place."

The bravado in Antelope's voice almost amused the Collector, almost. The rage inside him that had been growing for the past few minutes, with the heroes' attempts at stopping him, by removing a part of his armour, prevented him from even laughing at the hero's speech.

"A minor set back." -the Collector said. –"It really doesn't matter. I've taken your miraculouses from you once, and I can take them from you again. You will not stop me from fulfilling my mission! Not you, nor your friends." -he declared with an angry voice.

"We'll see about that." -Antelope told him, as he saw some of his friends picking themsels up form the floor, ready for another round.

"You guys can take a break. Leave him to us!" -Queen Bee said as she used her trompo to create a small tornado to lift a couple of gravestones from the ground and throw them at the Collector, who quickly obliterated them with his sword. –" _Guess I'll have to use a little more strength with him._ " -she thought to himself.

"I'm going to enjoy using your head for target practice, buster!" -Antelope said, as he made his bat appear, and readied himself to attack.

The two heroes wasted no time in attacking the villain, who quickly defended himself from their attacks. Because they had just powered-up, unlike they were friends, they had all their strength at their disposal. Making use of it, they both focused on taking him down swiftly. This, however proved to be a little harder than they thought it would be. By then, they had imagined the rest of the team had tired him enough for their attacks to cause serious damage to him. But the Collector seemed tireless, as he kept dodging, flinching and taking in one most of the attacks both Queen Bee and Antelope threw at him.

"Strike one!" -Antelope said, as he bashed the Collector in the head with his bat. –"Strike two!" -he exclaimed, as he continued to hit him in the head. –"Strike three! You're out, mister!"

Antelope believed that hitting him on the head that hard, three consecutive times would at the very least make him dizzy, but he quickly realized that this would not be the case. Turning around, the Collector almost sliced him in half with his sword, and if it was not for Queen Bee, who tossed her trompo and wrapped it around her friend's torso, pulling him towards her, and away from the Collector's sword, that would have been the end of him.

"Thanks!" -Antelope told her.

"Don't' mention it. Just don't make it a habit, okay? Alix over there might get jealous if someone else, instead of her, saves you from tight spots." -Queen Bee joked.

Back on their feet, and watching their friends in trouble, the rest fo the team decided they were not going to stand there, and not help them.

"Come on, let's give them a hand!" -Ladybug said. –"Arachnid, do you tink you can restrain him again with your lasso?" -she asked him.

"If the girls over there can give me a hand, once again, I'll see what I can do." -Arachnid answered her, as he looked at Flamingo and Corbeau Noire.

"Sure!" -Corbeau Noire nodded, as she looked at Flamingo, who was standing to her left. –"Think you can manage?"

"I'll try." -Flamingo told her. Creating mutilple copies, over and over, was wearying her out fast. Still, she knew she could not let her friends down. Focusing, she quickly created four copies of herself. –"But let's hurry, I'm starting to get exhausted." -she and her copies said in chourus.

Launching another attack against the Collector, this time Arachnid, Flamingo and Corbeau Noire coordinated their move against the villain, to ensure that he was caught off-guard. Combined with one of illusions of Rena Rouge, who had selflessly decided they were going to need one, made it seem like they were going to try a different strategy, instead of repeating the previous one. By doing so, they managed to outsmart the Collector, who quickly became entangled in Arachnid's lasso, as well as the living shadows summoned by Corbeau Noire, with Flamingo and her copies holding his arms and legs. Not wasting time, Queen Bee decided to try her luck in removing one of the parts of the Collector's armour. Remembering what Master Fu had told them about which parts of the armour needed ot be removed, she decided to go for the legs, as they were the part of the armour that had the power of the rabbit miraculous, granting the Collector his supersonic speed.

"Miraculous Armour! Miraculous Conclusion!" -Queen Bee exclaimed the magical words, as she threw her trompo, wrapping it around the Collector's legs.

Immediately the armour's legs turned red, just like it happened when Grizzly bear tried to remove the chest piece of the armour. Only this time, thanks in part to Rena's illusion, the Collector did not realize what she was doing, until it was too late. Pulling her trompo with every bit of strength she had in her arms, the bee heroine was able to remove the armour's legs, revealing that underneath it, the Collector was wearing some kind of mesh outfit, similar to those worn by Middle Ages knights. Roaring in agony, the Collector fell on his knees.

"One down!" -Queen Bee rejoiced, as she kicked the armour's legs, which had landed to her feet. –" _At least now, no matter how fast he is, he's not lightning fast anymore._ " -she thought to herself.

"You'll pay for that!" -the Collector said, enraged. He would have to use his magic to once again attach the part of his armour Queen Bee had managed to magically remove. But, only after dealing with the miraculous heroes. Right then, his pride as a warrior was wounded, and the only way to appease it, was to kill the heroes and remove their miraculouses.

But before he could return the gesture, Ladybug decided to also try her luck and also remove one of the armour's pieces. Looking at the Collector and quickly analysing which part of his armour she could remove from him, from where she was, she decided the logical choice would be his sword, which had once been the serpent miraculous and that granted him the power to turn himself invisible. Without his supersonic speed or his invisibility, he would be easier to handle. Taking a deep breath, she did not hesitate, when she threw her yo-yo, wrapping it around the villain's sword, making sure it was secure, before pulling it.

"Miraculous Armour! Miraculous Conclusion!" -Ladybug exclaimed, and as she did it, the sword began to glow red, and she was able to take it from the Collector.

Grabbing it, she instinctively decided to break it into two, thinking that if it was broken, the Collector would not be able to use it again. It took most of her strength, but she was able to break it, throwing the two pieces away. Two of the armour pieces that were needed to be removed had been removed, and only three remained. For the first time that night, the scarlet heroine felt they could come out victorious of that battle.

"Looks like you lost your weapon, man." -Carapace said. He had not been able to do much that night, given that the Collector managed to break through his energy shields earlier. Nobody had ever managed to do such a thing. He always believed that only Hawk Moth himself would be able to break his energy shields, but it looked like the Collector was able to do it. When he saw this happening, he felt that his powes that night would not be of great use, and so, decided to use his tonfas to do the fighting, sticking close to Rena Rouge, so as to protect her.

"P-perhaps, but that doesn't mean I can't create another one!" –the Collector roared, as he used the ox's power to once again break free from the heroes' grasp. This time, Flamingo and Corbeau Noire managed to avoid being sent flying through the air. But Arachnid was not to lucky. The spider hero, who was still holding his lasso was thrown into the air with such ferocity that if it had not been for one of Flamingo's copies who grabbed him in mid-air, he would have ended up on the other side of the cemetery.

Once free from the heroes' clutches, and not wasting a single second, he decided to use one of his powers he had not used before against the heroes, the power of shapeshifting, granted to him by the monkey miraculous. Kneeling down, he placed his right hand on a rock fragment that was on the ground, and suddenly, this one changed shape. It changed into a spear, which stood in front of him.

"Okay, I'm slightly impressed, but you're going to have to do a lot better than that…" -Chat Noir said.

He had not finished the sentence, when the Collector touched several other rock fragments and these also turned into spears in a matter of seconds. And when they thought that was it, he touched the ground, and using the power of the sheep miraculous, which granted him the ability to control over rocky minerals, he began pulling large pieces of rock from the ground and turning them into spears, swords and other kinds of pointy weapons. In a matter of seconds, there were perhaps hundreds of these. The whole thing looked like something out of a mystical movie shot in China. It did not take the heroes more than a mere second to realize that the villain was going to throw all of those weapons at them.

Quickly, Carapace created several energy shields to protect him and the others from the attack that was about to take place. Once the last of them was behind the shields, the Collector began his attack on them. The sound made by the numerous objects the Collector was throwing at them was almost deafening. And the worst part was that as soon as the objects impacted against the shield, and crumbled into bits, these flew back to the Collector, who quickly turned them back into their original form, only to launch them against the shield again. The whole thing was surreal, and even so, it was happening. The guy literally had an inifinite amount of ammunition, and he was going to use it all against them.

"Are you sure this will hold out?!" -Chat Noir asked Carapace.

"Well, it held similar attacks before, so I think it will!" -Carapace told his best friend. –"At least that's what I hope. The guy was able to break my shields earlier… who's to say that this attack won't break this shield too?" -he asked himself, fearing the worst.

"This guy is throwing everything he has at us!" -Louve Grise said. –"I don't think he knows what we're trying to do yet, but he's determined to kill us before we have the chance to do it!"

" _We've got to do something to stop this attack._ " -Ladybug thought to herself. Rigth then, they were between a rock and a hard place, and she knew it. –" _As long as he's attacking, we can't get close to him to remove another piece of his armour._ "

"Maybe the ones of us who can fly, could go around him, while you distract him, grab him, fly him to the stratosphere and then drop him like a " -Dragonfly suggested, as she looked at the places in the shield where the spears, swords and other pointy weapons hit, and how the shield was holding up.

"That won't work, remember? He can also fly." -Rena Rouge reminded her.

"How about another one of your illusions?" -Flamingo asked her.

"That might distract him and buy us some time, but we're talking minutes here. We need something that we can hit him with, and hit him pretty hard." -Rena Rouge declared.

"I hate to say it, but she's right. Illusions won't cut out this time." -Ladybug said. –"We've lost the element of surprise." -she told them.

"Hey, am I imagining things, or is he moving closer to us?" –Forest Doe asked the others, as she looked at the Collector's figure.

"No, you're not imagining things. He's really moving!" -Grizzly exclaimed, as he also noticed the Collector approaching them,

"Don't worry, everyone. The cavalry has arrived!" -Panda Rouge exclaimed, as he used his special ability. Until then, he had merely attacked the Collector by using his spear, saving his special ability for a crucial moment in the battle, when he felt that they would need it the most, and that moment had arrived. Drawing as fast as he could, he quickly created a mechanized battle suit, similarto those he had seen so many times in Japanese mangas and animes. –"If he wants to fight dirty, then, we'll also fight dirty with him." -he said, as he finished the design. –"I'll use this to keep him busy, while you figure out a way to hold him still for a bit."

"Good idea. But why don't you just give one of those to all of us, so we can blast this guy to kingdom come?" -Antelope asked him. He was not going to admit it, both because he was nervous and because he did not like people to know that he was just as much as nerd as Arachnid was, but he loved the design of that battle suit and just wanted to jump inside it and pilot it.

"Let me put it this away. I can either use my energy to create one of these, that has inifinite ammo, which I can use to counter attack him, or I can create fourteen of these with a lot of ammo, which they will run out, eventually." -Panda Rouge explained it, as to which Antelope raised him an eyebrow. –"What?! Do you really think I can just conjure infinite ammo like that?"-he asked him, while snapping his fingers. –"Everything has a price. My powers have limits, just like everyone else's."

"Nevermind that! Just get inside that things and start shooting him! Everyone else, spread out!" -Ladybug ordered them out. –"Attack him from all flanks! And if you can find an opening in his defense, strike him. We've got to finish what we started." -she exclaimed. –"As for those of us who can't use the removal spell any longer, find a way to give the others who can a shot at it!"

"Okay. Grizzly and Chat, you come with me, I have a plan!" -Carapace told the two of them. –"And you… keep him busy, okay? Once you're ready I'll lift the shields." -he told Panda Rouge, who was entering the battle suit.

Once Panda Rouge was aboard the battle suit and ready to go, he signalled Carapace, who instantly made the shields disappear, leaving him face to face with the Collector. Firing all the weapons he had placed in that thing, he hoped to draw the enemy's fire towards, leaving the others free to attack him from the remaning flanks. And as expected, it worked. Though not as effectively as they were expecting. Panda Rouge did manage to keep him occupied, by the Collector still managed to see what was going on and was able to react promptly, by attacking the other heroes as well. Still, that did not prevent the heroes to once more throw themselves at him with all their might.

Suddenly, a beam of light appeared out of nowhere. Looking upwards, they saw that a news helicopter had arrived to see what was going on. Still unknown to them, the police had also arrived a couple of moments earlier and was standing outside the cemetery's walls, waiting for orders.

"The news helicopter is here!" -Rena Rouge pointed it out to Ladybug.

"We can't risk them seeing Master Fu!" -Ladybug said, as she turned her attention to Forest Doe. –"You know what to do. Operation: Concealment."

"Okay. Leave it to me." -Forest Doe nodded, as she quickly got out of there, looking for Master Fu. –"Send us a signal, when it's time for the big finish!" -she told her.

Operation Concealment was a contingency plan developed by the heroes to assure that if any case, there were people who knew their identities present, that could be identified by the media, these people would have to disappear before anyone could catch a glimpse of them. And the only way to do that was to use Forest Doe's invisibility powers, which allowed her to make her invisible, as well as other people, if she touched them. Looking around, it did not take long for her to find Master Fu, who was still hidden where Antelope and Queen Bee had left him. When he saw Doe sprinting towards him, he realized what she was doing.

"Let me guess, Operation Concealment, am I right?" -Master Fu asked her, as she stopped in front of him.

"Yes, master." -Forest Doe declared, as she placed her hand over the old man's right shoulder, turning them both invisible.

"How long until I can seal him in the urn?" -Master Fu asked her. From where he was, he could not see what was going on.

"Not long, master. We managed take his sword, as well as the armour's legs already." -Doe told him. –"It's only a matter of time now."

At the same time, the scarlet heroine signalled Dragonfly to fly up to the helicopter and tell them to not come so close, fearing the Collector might try to turn them into hostages, or worst, take the helicopter down. Shooting herself upwards, it took the pink-haired heroine less than two seconds to reach the helicopter. Because of the defeaning sound of the propellers, she was forced to use sign language to let the pilot to know they had to get out of there. It took a little longer than she wanted, but the man finally understood what she wanted, taking the helicopter away from there.

" _Why do these news guys risk so much?!_ " -Dragonfly asked herself. –" _I mean, I know they have to work and all, but if I didn't have the powers I have, I wouldn't get anywhere near an akuma or any other kind of psycho, if they were shooting weapons made out of rock, for allthe money in the world._ " -she sighed.

Meanwhile, down in the ground the trio composed by Chat Noir, Grizzly Bear and Carapace had just managed to make him drop to his knees, so to speak. Combining Chat Noir's Cataclysm and Grizzly Bear's Earth Shaking, the two of them rottened and then collapsed the ground underneath the Collector's feet, making him lose his balance and fall on his back. When this happened, every object that he had created from the rocks in that cemetery and that was still hanging in the air, fell to the ground, retunring to its original shape. Seeing this, Panda Rouge on the battle suit, charged to where the villain was lying on the ground, and helped pin him to the ground. The Collector struggled to get back up right away, but Panda Rouge did not allow it. Turning on all of the thrusters on the battle suit's back, and directing some of the main power towards the suit's upper limbs, he made sure that the Collector would not move, and give the others a chance to attack him. This allowed Carapace to tackle the Collector, and use his tonfas to perform the removal spell on him.

"Miraculous Armour! Miraculous Conclusion!" -Carapace exclaimed. Performing the removal spell, he managed to remove the chest piece from him, thus deprive him from the power of the ox miraculous. –"Oh yeah! That's what I'm talking about!" -he yelled, as he enthusiastically played air guitar, celebrating his feat.

As soon as the chest piece hit the ground, another hero decided to take the opportunity to use the removal spell on the Collector. Antelope spoke the words and he targeted the plackart, which had once been the horse miraculous, and where the power of cure and immortality resided. Doing it, the plackart flew out of the Collector's body, as he roared in pain and rage. Still, Antelope did not care. That stunt was the kind of sweet revenge he wanted to inflict upon the Collector for stealing his miraculous before.

With four pieces removed, there was one last to go. The Collector did not know what their plan really was. The only thing he knew was that they had found a way to remove his armour, and thus weakened him. Still, that was not going to prevent him from defeating them. He was just one, while they were many, but as he had observed during their fight, they still had a lot to learn about team work, and they were amateurs, when it came to use the true powers of their miraculouses. And that last detail, was where he knew that even though he was losing the battle, he would win the war. Unlike the Miraculous Heroes, the Collector had managed to tap into deepest powers of the miraculouses that made up his armour, and that was going to insure his victory, for he knew just what power he had to use to defeat them. Pinned down against the ground, there was only one power that could save him from that tight jam, without the need of using too much of his energy on it. After all, he needed all of his strength, if he was going to take all of the heroes down.

As Rena Rouge was about to strike his left gauntlet, where the power of the dragon miraculous resided, this one began to glow as if it was made out of lava. A second later, the Collector touched the ground and this one began to heat up, just like when one turns on a vitroceramic hob. Feeling the intense heat, the heroes instinctively back away, letting go of the villain, who right then felt like he was cooking on a grill. Because he did not have the piece of his armour that granted him cure and immortality, the Collector was in pain, as he got out of the ground and looked at the heroes. Still, even with his back on fire and the amount of pain he was in, he was not going to stop until the heroes were on the ground, broken, bruised and bleeding. Snapping his fingers, he conjured once again the fiery dragon, which this time took on a different shape and size. This time, the fiery dragon looked a lot slender than before, its head looked more like the head of a demon, and the flames that made up its body looked a lot more intense than before. Looking at it, one would wonder if that creature had not crawled out of the pits of Hell, or not. The first thing it did was to throw tself, by order of the Collector, against Panda Rouge, who attacked it. Still, it did not matter the number of bullets he fired against it, because these had effect on the fire dragon, while on the other hand, the dragon's flames were quite effective on Panda Rouge's mechanized battle suit, forcing him to bail out, just as this one blew up.

"Just because you think you're winning, doesn't mean that you will come out victorious in the end." -the Collecvtor said, as the fire dragon surrounded his body, becoming like a secondary armour. –"I will roast you all alive." -he said, as he fired several fire balls at the heroes, who scattered, trying not to become pieces of charcoal. –"You may run, but you cannot hide from me! You won't leave this graveyard alive!"

"Oh great… out of the fire and into the fryping pan." -Chat Noir said.

"I think it's more like out of the frying pan and into the fire, don't you agree?" –Ladybug asked him, cracking a joke.

"No offense, but that one was terrible. Leave the jokes to me, milady." -Chat Noir smiled at her.

"It wasn't that terrible… watch out!" -Ladybug exclaimed as she pulled the feline hero towards her, preventing him from ending up roasted. Looking at her, he smirked, which made her raise an eyebrow. –"Don't get any ideas, okay?" -she told him, in a playful tone.

"Who, me?" -Chat asked her, playing the innocent part. –" _Marinette's so cute when she talks like that._ " -he thought to himself.

"Yeah, you." -Ladybug told him. –" _If we weren't about to be roasted alive but that guy, I would have probably blushed like crazy when Adrien smirked at me… he's got such a beautiful smile._ " -she thought to himself. –" _Oh, come on, now's not the time to think about that. We need to find a way to extinguish that fire dragon, before taking that gauntlet of his. But how are we going to do that? How are we going to stop this fiery demon?_ "


	23. Genie Back in the Bottle

The question that was on Ladybug's mind, as well as on the minds of every member of the Miraculous Team, was how on Earth were they going to stop the Collector, now that he had become a living, walking flamethrower? They thought that without the powers granted to him by the ox miraculous, as well as the serpent, the rabbit and the horse, he would slow down and become easier to deal with, but they could not be more wrong about it. The rage that was consuming him was powerful enough, not only to enable him to go on, but it also had given him the strength to ignore the flames of the fiery dragon that had now become like a secondary armour, and that were burning him.

Firing fire balls at the heroes, these quickly turned into smaller fire-breathing dragons with a mind of their own, who only had one thought in mind; the very same thought that was couring through the mind of the Collector; to kill the Miraculous Heroes and take the miraculouses from their burnt corpses. Using his tonfas, Carapace quickly created a series of energy shields around each of the heroes to prevent the fire beasts from attacking them. These breath fire against the shields, while trying to penetrate them. But unlike the Collector, who had managed to break them, these did not have the power to do so.

"These will make it harder for them to hurt us." -Carapace said.

"But we can't run from them, or him!" -Rena Rouge told him, as she pointed to the Collector, who was coming in their direction. –"We'll have to fight him!"

Trying not to panic, the fox heroine used her flute-staff to create an illusion that could get them out of that mess, or the very least, buy them some time to think of a solution to their predicament. With weariness starting to settle in her body, she had to appeal to most of her inner strength, just to create a small illusion, which she believed, would be powerful enough to stand up against the Collector. And the illusion that she brought to life was none other than a fierce knight in shinning armour, on top of a white steed, wielding a shinny sword. The whole thing looked like something out of a King Arthur movie. Still, this was not what she had in mind, when she conjured that illusion. What she wanted to conjure was a group of knights to go up against the Collector, and not just one. Still, she figured that she only had enough energy to create one knight. But luckily, Panda Rouge decided to give her a hand, and quickly drew another mechanized battle suit, this one fully automated and with a mind of its own, to pair up with the knight.

"Don't worry, I've got your back!" -Panda Rouge exclaimed, as his creation began to shoot down every last one of the smaller fire dragons, which unlike the main one, seemed to not have any regenerative powers. –"Come on, is that the best you can come up with?!" -he exclaimed, as more and more of the little fire beasts were taken out. –"I can do this all day!"

Seeing the opponents created by the two heroes, the Collector wasted no time in charging against them, using the fiery dragon that was around him, to do the fight for him. This one charged against the knight, breathing fire on him, while the battle suit fired a round of bullets against the fiery creature. Those looking at it, would feel compelled to once again see the whole thing as a scene straight out of a King Arthur movie, where a brave knight fights against a vicious fire-breathing dragon, hoping to save the noble princess the dragon is keeping prisoner. The only thing that spoiled the whole imagery was the futuristic battle suit created by Panda Rouge, which seemed like it had been dropped there by accident.

" _Come on, attack that dragon! Buy us some time!_ " -Rena Rouge thought to herself, as she kept playing her flute-staff, controlling the knights moves.

"Okay, come on, we can take this guy down!" -Panda Rouge exclaimed, as he ordered the battle suit around. –" _I should have given it a proper shield. If it gets too close to the flames, it'll be roasted."_ -he thought to himself.

At the distance, Forest Doe continued to protect Master Fu, using her invisibility power, to keep them concealed from the prying eyes of the Collector, but most importantly, from the news helicopter that showed up earlier. They could not find out about Master Fu or his connection to the heroes. Watching the battle, the old master wish he could do something to help the young heroes, but he could do nothing to help them out, especially when he and Forest Doe noticed that they had been able to remove two more parts of the villain's armour, and only needed one more. Still, even if he could not help them, he knew Forest Doe could help them, instead of being there, protecting an old man.

"Maybe you should go and help them out." -Master Fu suggested Forest Doe. –"You can go. I'll be fine, hidden here." -he said.

"No, you know I can't do that." -Forest Doe told the old master. –"The news helicopter is gone for now, but it can come back, and we can't risk them seeing you, master." -she declared. –"Besides, I know they'll be able to handle it. We

"Very well, but I would rather see you there, fighting and helping your friends." -the old man admitted.

"Me too, master. But Marinette entrusted me with protecting you, and that's what I'm going to do, no matter what." -Forest Doe declared. If there was something that she had learned from her dad was that in the theatre, like in life, there were no small parts, just small actors. And she knew that although it was important to defeat the Collector, protecting Master Fu and ensuring no one would see him, was just as important as that. –" _Hang in there, guys, especially you, Ivan._ " -she thought to herself.

Shorlty after that thought of hers, the fiery dragon grew even larger than before, until it was the size of a 10-storey building. Roaring savagely and breathing fire on the heroes, who had no other option but to run from the flames, it attacked them, without showing signs of slowing down. The illusion and the living drawing Rena Rouge and Panda Rouge had created to fight the Collector, as well as the smaller fiery dragons were completely obliterated by the creature's flames. It did not take long for the energy shields created by Carapace, that protected the heroes to also be disintegrated by those same flames.

"Watch out!" -Flamingo yelled.

Flamingo had just finished yelling, when the dragon began to breathe fire again. This time though, he did not fire a single giant fire ball at them, but instead, he kept breathing fire into a long flame, as if it was drawing something on the ground, incinerating everything it touched. This proved to be right, when the heroes noticed that it was using the fire to draw a circular shape on the ground.

"I think he's trying to corner us! Everyone, split up and run in different directions!" -Ladybug ordered them all.

But the scarlet heroine's order came a little too late for the most part of the team, with the exception of Chat Noir, Dragonfly, Queen Bee, Corbeau Noire, Louve Grise and herself, the rest of the team was trapped by the dragon's flames, which quickly gained a new form, a huge fiery cage. Inside it, the heroes tried to get out, but this proved to be impossible, especially, because the cage seemed to be shrinking. And the truth was, it was really shrinking, very slowly. Seeing that, Antelope tried to go through the flames, even knowing he would get scorched by them, only to stop, when he saw the flames moving with a mind of its own, trying to grab him. It took him and the others mere seconds to realize that they were trapped inside that cage, and if even if they tried to go through it, the flames would get them. With no other alternative, Carapace raised a huge shield over them, in hopes of slowing down the cage's shrinking, as well as preventing the flames from trying to grab them. His major concern was if his shield would be able to endure long enough, for them to be saved. And while they waited, the air was becoming hotter and hotter, like the inside of a steambath room.

"I'm not liking this." -Grizzly Bear said. –" _At least, Mylene is safe with Master Fu._ " -he thought to himself.

"Can't you draw us something we can use to get out of this tight jam, like a drilling machine, or anything similar to dig our way out?" -Antelope asked Panda Rouge, as he kept staring at the flames

"Too weak… I need a few minutes to recover." -Panda Rouge told him. –" _Plus, this heat isn't helping at all._ " -he thought to himself, as he tried to ignore the heat.

"We may not have a few minutes, Nathaniel." -Flamingo whispered to him, scared. –" _At least, Juleka isn't here with us. She and the others will find a way to get us out... they have to… please, Juleka, my love, save me…._ " -the blonde thought to herself. The hot air was beginning to affect her, just like the rest of the team, making her dizzy and exhausted.

On the outside of that fiery cage, the heroes that managed to remain free, looked at their friends, trapped inside that fiendish trap, and wished they could help them. Unfortunately, they still had the Collector and his giant pet fiery dragon to deal with, and both were more than ready for another round.

"Okay, we're in big trouble now." -Queen Bee said, as she dodged a fire ball that was heading towards her. –"Not only most of the team is trapped inside that sort of cage made out of fire, and can't help us, but they're also going to get roasted inside that thing… that is if they don't die of a heat stroke or choke because of the lack of oxygen." -she admitted, remembering what she and the others had learned in class, regarding what happens when one heats up the air too much.

"We've got to do something to help them out!" -Chat Noir said. –"If we don't, they're going to end up roasted inside that thing." -he declared, as he dodged another fire ball.

"Maybe if we attack the dragon, the flames will disappear? I mean, it was that thing that created them. It's most likely linked ot it, so if it disappears, then that cage of flames will disappear as well." -Louve grise suggested.

"No! Attacking the dragon is a waste of time. We have to attack the one who's controlling it. Plus, we don't know if attacking the dragon alone will do anything." -Ladybug said. –"It's the Collector we have to focus our attacvks on." -she declared.

"I could try and snag the gauntlet from him with one of my shadow attacks, but not while he's burning up like that." -Corbeau Noire stated. –"I mean, the light is just too bright for my shadows to get near him." -she said.

"That means we need to cool him down." -Ladybug said. –"I could use my sixth sense to try and find some of the water pipes that run under the cemetery, so that we could use the water in them. But I don't know if that would work, because his flames are magical." -she declared.

"Well, if they're magical, then they most likely can only be put out with magic." -Dragonfly said. –"Maybe a magical water attack would take care of him… too bad those who could conjure such a thing are being held by that psycho, on that fire prison he created.

After Dragondly said that last sentence, an idea sparked inside Louve Grise's mind, on how to confront the Collector. The trouble was that what she had in mind was not exactly what they were looking for. Still, with nothing to lose, she decided to suggest it to the others.

"Maybe… But I think… no, I know it. There's one way we can put out the flames surrounding him, and who knows, even put out the dragon itself." -Louve Grise said, as she looked at Queen Bee. –"But we never tried it on the ground."

"You're talking about Operation Blizzard Storm, aren't you?" -Queen Bee asked her.

"Yes, and like I said, we never tried it on the ground, so I don't know the amount of damage it will do, both on the Collector and on the surrounding environment." -Louve Grise stated. They had created and developed that combined attack to only be used on the air, never on the ground, because of its destructive power. –"I know it's kind of a desperate move, but…"

"But we're desperate, I know." -Queen Bee asserted with her head. –"Like they say, desperate times, call for desperate measures, Sabrina. I'm up for it, if you are." -the bee heroine declared.

"I am, if you are." -Louve Grise waved her head. –" _I just hope I have enough strength in me to perform my part of the attack._ "-she thought to herself.

"We're going to need a little time to prepare; two minutes, or maybe less. Think you guys can come up with a distraction?" -Queen Bee asked the others.

"Go. We can handle him and his pet for a little bit." –Ladybug said, as she dodged another one of the Collector's fire balls.

"Just try not to take too long. I don't want to end up as grilled cat, okay?" -Chat Noir smirked at the girls, joining Ladybug, as she charged against the villain.

Having a plan, Ladybug, Chat Noir, Dragonfly and Corbeau Noire attacked the Collector, so as to give Queen Bee and Louve Grise enough time to prepare their combined attack. And that plan was to distract him at all costs. The four heroes tried their best to keep him busy, but the exhaustion they were all suffering made that a hard task. Still, knowing most of their friends were all trapped inside a hot flaming cage, created by the Collector's pet dragon, gave them the determination they needed to keep fighting.

" _Hang on, guys. We're going to get you all out of there._ " -Ladybug thought to herself.

" _Just hang tight a little longer. The cavalry is on its way._ "-Dragonfly thought to herself, as she executed a beautiful air loop, evading the snapping jaws from the fire dragon, which had begun to chase her.

The exhaustion had turned them slower, but they were not the only ones who were moving slower than before. The Collector was also moving slower than before, and though his attacks looked like stronger than before, he was clearly moving a lot slower, while his moves looked a lot more forced, like he was in agony. Seeing this, the heroes hypothesized that this was because he no longer had the power of cure and immortality, and as such, could no longer cure himself. Still, that did not mean he was not dangerous. Ignoring the pain, the flames were causing him, the villain attacked Chat Noir and Ladybug, while letting the fiery dragon chase after Dragonfly and Corbeau Noire, who were up in the sky.

At the same time, Queen Bee and Louve Grise were getting ready to use their combined attack. The two of them knew that the odds of that working were 50/50, but even so, they had to trust that that attack would extinguish the flames that surrounded the Collector body, as well as the fiery dragon, sending him to his knees, and allowing Corbeau Noire to remove the gauntlet that held the power of the miraculous dragon without further hitches. Placing themselves in position, they knew that their levels of energy would only allow them one shot.

"Are you ready?" -Queen Bee asked Louve Grise.

"I think so." -Louver Grise told her.

"Don't worry, everything will be fine." -the bee heroine reassured her, after sensing a little hesitation in the redhead's voice.

"I know, but… but what if it doesn't work? What if…" -the wold heroine said, fearing the worst.

"Sabrina, don't." -Queen Bee interrupted her. –"Don't say those words. You'll jinx it." -she said, as she looked her friend in the eyes, and talked with a determined, yet sweet and caring voice. –"Listen, everything will turn out okay, in the end. I'll be here for you, the same way, you are here for me. We can do this, together. We can save our friends, and we can sure as Hell, stop that psycho, once and for all."

"Y-Yes." -Louve Grise said. –"Let's freeze this idiot, Chloe!" -she smiled at her.

Thanks to that pep talk from the blonde, Louve Grise felt like she could do anything. And right then, along with Queen Bee, she needed to put a stop to the Collector. Taking a deep breath, she cleared her mind of all kinds of bad and negative thoughts, just before signalling the bee heroine she was ready to go.

"Alright… let's do this." -Louve Grise said, as she magically made her fans appear in her hands.

"Yeah!" -Queen Bee exclaimed. –"And hope it works, or we're just going to waste our energies and trash what's left of this cemetery." -she thought to herself.

Beginning their attack, Queen Bee launched her trompo into the air, creating a small tornado. This one began to grow in size, but unlike the last time they used that technique, in which the tornado grew until it was bigger than an Airbus, this time, the bee heroine focused on making it a third of that size, while focusing on making it spin twice as fast. Once it reached the size Queen Bee had determined, she signalled Louve Grise to get ready, as she was going to drop it on top of the Collector and the fiery dragon. Corbeau Noire and Dragonfly, who were both paying attention to the giant dragon and to the two heroines, saw it was time for the two of them to grab Ladybug and Chat Noir, and get out of there, not wishing to be turned into popsicles by their friends. Doing just that, they grabbed the two heroes and zoomed out of there. The Collector, filled with rage did not understand why Dragonfly and Corbeau Noire did what they did, but once he looked up and saw the huge tornado, he saw that the heroes had set up a trap for him. But instead of running, he stood his ground and ordered the fiery dragon to destroy it.

The fire beast zoomed upwards, spitting fire balls against the tornado, only to see them being consumed by it, which kept spinning faster and faster, as it approached the ground. Sucking up the fire dragon, the tornado became like a beacon of fire and light in the air, dropping at an incredible rate. The Collector, seeing his pet dragon being sucked into the tornado tried to run to escape it, but without the power from the rabbit miraculous, he just was not fast enough to do it. Once the tornado hit the ground and the Collector, Queen Bee kept focused on making it spin as fast as she could. As expected, once it hit the ground it began to pull everything towards it, like a giant vacuum cleaner. Trees, bushes, pieces of concrete and marble and even old bones, everything. And on the center of it were both the Collector and his fire dragon.

Landing behind Queen Bee and Louve Grise, the rest of the heroes kept their eyes on the tornado that had just hit the ground. The wind kept pulling everything around it, and the heroes themselves had to make a serious effort not to get sucked by the tornado.

"Go for it!" -Queen bee told Louve Grise.

"Alright, keep it steady, and I'll do the rest!" -Louve Grise exclaimed, as she slowly walked towards the tornado, trying not to get sucked in.

Inside the tornado, the Collector was trying his best to to escape from inside it. Unfortunately for him, he could not even keep his feet on the ground, nor focus on trying to get the fiery dragon back in his control, which was now a strange and twisted mass of fire that kept spinning on itself, without getting hit by one of the various objects that had been sucked inside the tornado. Most of the powers he still had could not help him inside the tornado, and for the first time in a long time, he felt helpless.

Outside, Louve Grise was gathering all of her remaining strength to do her part and freeze the wind generated by the tornado. Planting her feet on the ground, so she would not get sucked into the tornado, the wolf heroine inhaled as much air as she could, before using her ice breath on the tornado. Once she used it, the temperature inside the tornado dropped vertiginously low in a matter of seconds, freeze everything that was inside. It did not take long for the Collector to be turned into a popsicle, while being continuously hit by all matter of debris, and for the fiery dragon to be nothing but a giant piece of ice, which broke into several smaller pieces.

Feeling that was enough, Queen Bee signalled Louve Grise to stop using her ice breath, as she too ceased control over the tornado, calling back her trompo to her hand. It took only seconds for the tornado to disappear and for everything that was inside it to drop to the floor like rocks, whether these were rocks or not. Just like they had anticipated, the girls combined attack felt quite the trail of destruction. If one would look at it, it would think that an airplane had crashed there. And among the debris that were sctattered all over the place was the Collector, frozen solid. You could see that he could still move a little. He had taken quite the beating. Without wanting to waste any time, Corbeau Noire went ahead and did what she had to do.

"Miraculous Armour! Miraculous Conclusion!" -Corbeau Noire said, as her mirror began to glow red, as well as all the shadows she had under her control.

Saying those words, the shadows under the raven heroine's control went straight to the now frozen right gauntlet, grabbing it and removing it from his frozen body. When this happened, two things happened. First, the Collector screamed once again, breaking most of the ice that covered him, panting in pain. And second, the fire cage in which the rest of the team was being held in disappeared, setting them free. Just like they had thought, once the Collector lost the power of the dragon miraculous, everything related to it ceased to exist. Once that happened, Carapace's shield also disappeared, signalling the end of their torment.

"Oh, I never thought I would be so happy to breathe fresh air again." -Rena Rouge exclaimed, happy to be out of that fiery cage.

"You ain't the only one, believe me." -Carapace told her, as he helped her getting up and hugged her as tight as he could. He was so glad that they were all safe, that if he still had the strength to do it, he would be jumping up and down like a rabbit. –"But, thank God it's over."

While they celebrated, Ladybug and the others were keeping an eye on the Collector, who had managed to get back on his feet. At first sight, he looked like he had been run over by a freezing truck, after being shot from a cannon, only to land on a minefield. They had managed to do a number on him, and without the power of the horse miraculous at his disposal, he could not cure himself.

"It's time to end this." -Ladybug said. –"We need to signal Master Fu."

"That won't be necessary." -a voice was heard behind her. They recognized the voice as belonging to the old master, who was still invisible thanks to Forest Doe.

"You better stay invisible if you can, master. We've got eyes in the sky." -Chat Noir advised him, as he looked up and saw not one, but five helicopters, two of them with powerful searchlights attached to them, most likely from the police.

Up in the sky, four other helicopters had joined the news helicopter that had first appeared to check what was going on. And just like Chat Noir pointed out, two of them belonged to the Parisian police. Because of Queen Bee and Louve Grise's combined attack, as well as the Collector's fiery dragon, they had been forced to keep themselves at a safe distance from everything. But now that the Collector was down, and the battle was seemingly over, they all decided to approach and see if the battle was really over, or if the villain and the heroes were just taking a break. Time was of the essence, and the old master knew it. They had to seal the Collector and end his threat, once and for all.

"Don't worry. I plan to remain invisible. This will be over in no time. All I have to do is say a few magic words. Still, you better step away, while I do this." -Master Fu warned them. –"Except you, my dear. I'll need your invisibility for a little longer, if you don't mind." -he told Forest Doe, who was by his side, and like him, invisible.

"Very well, master." -Forest Doe said.

"Go for it, master!" -Antelope said enthusiastically.

Stepping forth, Master Fu looked at the Collector, who was standing in front of him. Looking at him, he hardly recognized the villain, as he did not look like his illustrations in the Book of Prophecies, thanks to the Miracullous Heroes, who not only fought him bravely, but also managed to defeat him, leaving in a miserable state.

"Alright… I don't know if you can see me, but I'm certain that you can hear me, Collector." -Master Fu said, as he placed the urn on the floor. –"As the last of the guardians of the Miraculous Order, I'm here to make sure that you will never walk this land again, until the end of times!" -he exclaimed.

"W-What?!" -the Collector said, as he could not see the old master.

"Ancient spirits of yore, lend me your power and allow me to seal this evil away! Your time has come, Collector! Begone!" -Master Fu exclaimed. –"Ancient spirits of yore, lend me your power and allow me to seal this evil away! Your time has come, Collector! Begone!" -he kept repeating the same chant.

As Master Fu kept repeating the same chant over and over, the Collector felt something was wrong. He began feeling his body being pulled by an unseen force. Resisting it, the Collector took several steps back, only for this force to become stronger than before. Suddenly, the wind began to howl with an incredible strength, rivalling with the invisible force that was pulling him. Then, shooting from inside the urn five beams of light went straight for him, each one of themselves around the Collector's wrists, ankles and waist, pulling him even harder than before. And as if that was enough, more beams of light shot from the urn wrapped themselves around the Collector's legs and arms, pulling. A few more beams went straight to the discarded pieces of his armour, pulling them inside the urn. It was then that he realized what was happening. Once more, he was going to be sealed against his will, and prevented from fulfilling his mission.

"N-No! No! You can't do this!" -the Collector said.

"Oh, yes I can, and I must! For the sake of everyone on this planet!" -Master Fu exclaimed. –"Ancient spirits of yore, lend me your power and allow me to seal this evil away! Your time has come, Collector! Begone!" -the old master kept repeating the chant.

The Collector kept struggling, trying to break free from the beams of light that were now slowly pulling him towards the urn. Roaring like a wild animal, he kept saying that they could not do that to him.

"By doing this, you are condemning this world! Without me, the oppressed and the innocent will never see justice, and the guilty will keep ruling this world, without being properly judged! Let go of me!" -the Collector roared. –"If you think that this will prevent me from fulfilling my mission, you're sadly mistaken! Even if it takes me another millennium or two, but I will be back! I swear!" -he roared.

Finally, in a scene worthy of a Ghostbusters movie, the Collector was sucked into the urn, which Master Fu sealed right way, by doing a couple of moves with his hands, which created a magic seal. The heroes, who kept silent through the whole ritual, celebrated their triumph and the end of the Collector's threat with shouts of celebration.

"And that's what happens when you mess with the Miraculous Team." -Antelope joked sarcastically, as he looked at the urn. –"I guess you won't be making any house calls for a while." -he kept joking

"I guess it's safe to say that this was the last time we have heard of the Collector." -Carapace said triumphantly.

"Yup, we saved the day, with a little help from Master Fu, of course." -Louve Grise smiled.

"Yes, until the next power hungry akuma decides to attack Paris, so he can get our miraculouses and give them to Hawk Moth, for him to destroy them." -Dragonfly commented sarcastically.

"It's one way to put it." -Chat Noir smirked. He was feeling absolutely exhausted, believing that if he was allowed to, he would sleep for a whole week. Still, even exhausted, he had enough energy in him to come up with a couple of compliments to tell Ladybug.–"Still, as long as we're here, nothing bad will happen. Especially, if we're being led by someone as fantastic and amazing as you, milady." -he told her, making her blush lightly. –"You showed a lot of guts fighting that lunatic, all by yourself."

"Thanks. You weren't so bad yourself, kitty cat." -Ladybug shot back at him.

"Guess it's time to use the Ampulla Amulet to put things back the way they were., don't you think?" -Rena Rouge asked Ladybug.

"I guess you're right. We really did a number on this place, and I'm quite sure that the people who are her buried, would also appreciate if we cleaned it up a little." -Ladybug said, as she made the amulet appear in her right hand. –"Once everything is back to the way it was, could you make us all invisible, Mylene? I don't think any of us is in the mood for interviews, and we need to get Master Fu out of here, without anyone seeing him, or us." -the scarlet heroine asked her friend, not knowing exactly where she was right then, as one of the helicopters flew over them. The only thing that gave her any hints as to where she was the urn that was in midair, being held by Master Fu, whom just like Forest Doe, remained invisible.

"No worries, Marinette." -the voice belonging to Forest Doe was heard. –"Leave that to me." -she said. Though a little bit tired, thanks to her having been chosen to safeguard the old master, she had recovered most of her energies and was ready to use her powers to help the rest of the team.

Activating the power of the Ampulla Amulet, a wave of energy swept the whole cemetery, restoring it to the way it was before the fight against the Collector took place. Every grave was back in its place, every mausoleum was returned to its prestige condition, every tree and bush as green as before. Just from looking at it, no one would not even think that a fierce battle had taken place right there.

"All done." -Flamingo said.

"Alright, it's time for us to get out of here." -Ladybug said, as she waited for Forest Doe to use her invisibility power on her and the rest of the team.


	24. Epilogue

Using Forest Doe's invisibility power to render themselves invisible to everyone else, and then the flying powers of Queen Bee, Flamingo and Corbeau Noire, the Miraculous Team made its escape. Usually, after a battle, they would be more than willing to spare a couple of minutes to talk to the media. But not that night. On that night, they just wanted to get out of there and head back home, knowing that they had overcome their biggest challenge yet, and that they did not have to worry about the Collector anymore. As they flew out of there, they noticed the numerous police vehicles that were parked in front of the cemetery. Among them were four SWAT vans. No doubt that the authorities, once they had known through the television that the Collector was fighting the Miraculous Team, had decided to send in the big guns to deal with the situation. Unfortunately for them, by the time they arrived, the battle was over and none of the officers had the time to draw their gun. As the flew over them, some of the heroes could not help but to feel a little relieved, knowing that if things had gone south, at least the police would have had their backs. After a couple of minutes, they spotted a deserted back alley, a couple of blocks from the cemetery. The perfect place for them to get some privacy. Once they landed, Forest Doe supressed her power, making them all visible once more.

"Well, guess we really won't be giving any speeches tonight." -Queen Bee said. Though she loved the spotlight, right then she was just happy to take a moment to catch her breath, and enjoy having her kwami and her powers back.

"Yeah. The media aren't going to like that." -Forest Doe said.

"Oh, we'll make up for it, when the next Akuma shows up." –Flamingo told her.

"Which I hope, won't happen for at least a week or two. I need to relax after all of this." -Grizzly Bear said, as he rubbed his sore left shoulder, trying to ease the pain.

The truth was, everyone needed a little break from everything that went down. Hawk Moth or his minions had not shown themselves for nearly a month, and the heroes wanted that to continue that way, at least for a little longer. After the threat that the Collector posed to them and to the rest of the world, they needed a little break. Talking amongst them, they all agreed that on the following day, after school, they would all go out to the movies, just to relax and enjoy each other's company. The only one who did not know if he was going to be able to go was Chat, because he had fencing classes after school, though he was considering calling in sick, just so he could go to the movies with the rest of the gang.

" _And why shouldn't I? After all, I deserve it. Dad will only be back in two days, and I can tell Nathalie that I need to stay in school until a little later to finish a school project, while adding that Gorilla doesn't need to come and pick me up, that I will just grab a lift from Chloe._ " -Chat thought to himself, imagining the whole plan in his mind. –" _Yeah, that could work._ "

The only one who was not talking was Master Fu. The old man had not said a word, since they got out of the cemetery. Looking at him, Antelope noticed that he seemed a little tired, as if he had not slept in a week or so.

"Uh, master, are you okay?" -Antelope asked.

"Y-Yes, I am. I'm just a little tired." – Master Fu answered him, almost promptly. –"The sealing ritual took a little more from me, than I thought. But I'll be fine. I just need a good night of sleep." -he told him.

"If you say so." -Antelope said. –"By the way, what are you going to do with that urn, master?" -he asked the old master.

"Hide it, of course." -Master Fu chuckled.

"And where are you going to hide it?" -Panda Rouge asked him, curious.

"That is for me to know, and for none of you ever to find out." -Master Fu joked. –"I'm going to place it somewhere I know no one will ever find out, not even you." -he said, looking at the heroes, who looked at him the way a young child looks when someone says that they are unable to keep secret. –"Don't take this the wrong way. It's not that I don't trust you to know where I'm going to hide it, but this creature that we just sealed inside this urn is too dangerous, and should have stayed that way forever."

"But that still doesn't explain why you won't trust us to know where you're going to hide it, master." -Dragonfly declared, feeling like there was something he was not telling them.

"Your powers are growing, everyday. You're not the same inexperienced heroes you were when you first came into contact with your miraculouses. And you still have a long way to go, before you master your powers, and when the day comes that you manage to do so, because I believe it will happen, many, many years from now, you might want to release the Collector." -the old master declared, as he chose the words carefully, so as to not hurt the pink girl's feelings, or the feelings of any of the other heroes.

"And why would we do such a thing?" -Carapace asked him

"Because of the Zodiac miraculouses…" -Rena Rouge answered.

"Exactly, Alya." -Master Fu sighed. –"I saw the way you reacted when I told you about the fate of the Zodiac miraculouses, and how you looked when I told you that they could not be reverted to their original form." -he said. –"I was once young, just like you, and just like you, if someone told me that something was impossible, then if I could, I would do everything in my power to prove them wrong, by attempting that which is impossible."

"But, like you said, it's impossible to do it." -Chat Noir said.

"Yes, for me it is. I have a great knowledge regarding the miraculouses and their magic, but even I don't know everything. But that does not mean that one day, one of you grows powerful enough to maybe find out a way to revert the miraculouses to their original form, or thinks that way; attempts to do it and…" -Master Fu explained.

"And you're scared that if that does happen, we might not be able to actually revert the miraculouses back, and the Collector will be free to come after us and spread chaos and destruction, once again." -Louve Grise finished the old master's sentence.

"Yes… I know I shouldn't think these things, especially since you have proven to be more incredible and resourceful than I was, when I was the holder of the turtle miraculous, but… I don't want to admit it, especially because you all fought incredibly well, but you were lucky. We all were lucky." -Master Fu told them.

None of them wanted to admit it, but they all believed they had been extremely lucky, when dealing with and defeating the Collector, mostly because the villain had underestimated the young heroes at first. They knew that if the Collector had fought them with all his might from the very beginning, they would have had a harder time defeating him.

"You're right. We were lucky."-Ladybug said. –"We were really lucky."

"Yeah… he didn't even use all of his powers, when he had the chance." -Chat Noir added. –"If he had, maybe the outcome of this battle would have been way different." -he sighed, recognizing that luck had been on their side.

"Which is why, it's best for none of you to know where it is. Call it, a safety measure, if you want to." -Master Fu said.

"But, what if one of us actually finds a way to really retrieve the zodiac miraculouses, master? I mean, twelve other miraculouses could help us a lot… we could even put a stop to Hawk Moth, once and for all, if we had a few more heroes to help." -Flamingo pointed out.

She was not wrong about it, and Master Fu knew it. Still, until the day one of them could possibly achieve that feat, he believed it was best for only him to know the location of the Collector's urn.

"That is a nice thought, I'll give you that, my dear." -Master Fu told Flamingo. –"Well, if that day comes, I'll go get it from the place I will hide it in. But if something happens to me, and I'm not around, do not worry, for I will leave you clues, for you all to find it." -he added.

"Alright, if you think that's the best course of action, master, then do it. After all, you're wisest than all of us combined." -Queen Bee said.

"No, I'm not wiser than all of you combined. You all have wisdom within you. A kind of wisdom which I will probably never have." -Master Fu told her. –"But, I thank you for trusting my judgement."

"One more question, master." -Grizzly Bear said. –"The Collector escaped because someone broke the urn he was trapped in. Aren't you afraid that if found by accident, someone or something might accidentaly break it?" -he asked him.

"I'm going to make sure that even if someone ever finds it, that it won't be able to open it or break it. Trust me, I've thought of everything." -Master Fu told him. –"Now, it's best if you all go home. I can do this by myself. After everything that went on tonight, you all deserve a good night of sleep." -he said.

"Yes, master." -they all said in chorus.

"Take care of yourself too, master." -Corbeau Noire said.

"Be sure to send us all a text when you get home." -Arachnid told him. Ever since they had met him, that the old master had become more than just their guide in that crazy superhero adventure of theirs. He had become like parental figure to them, one which they knew they could always count on.

"I will, don't worry." -Master Fu said, as the heroes all took off, leaving the old man alone, holding the urn where the Collector was now trapped.

* * *

As she made her way home, Ladybug could not help but to feel like a huge weigth had been lifted off her shoulders and off her conscience. The idea that she could be the next prey of a murdering maniac, who wanted her miraculous, was gone. For the first time, since she and her friends had found out about the Collector and his mission to obtain the miraculouses, she did not feel like a target; for the first time in weeks, she felt like nothing could go wrong. As she leapt form building to building, the scarlet heroine she let out several cries of happiness. She had almost forgotten the last time she felt like that. As tired as she was, she just wanted to keep leaping from building to building, as well as swinging between them, the rest of the night, just so she could enjoy the freedom of being able to do it. Still, she knew she had classes in the morning and a good night of sleep was what she really needed.

Arriving at her place, Ladybug landed on the terrace, where she promptly untied the rope from the railing, she had used to get down to the fire stairs. The last thing she wanted was for someone to use it to access the terrace, or for her parents to wonder what was a rope doing there. Once that was done, she carefully entered through her bedroom window, closing it behind her. Letting a sigh of relief, she felt happy to be back in her room, surrounded by all her stuff. Powering off, she went back to being Marinette once again.

"What a night!" -Marinette sighed, as she looked at Tikki, who was floating in front of her. –"I know I said this before, but it's so good to have you back, Tikki." -she smiled at the little kwami.

"It's good to be back." -Tikki smiled back at Marinette, as she looked around her. –"You don't know just how much I missed you and your room, Marinette, or how I much I missed everything!" -she exclaimed.

"I can only imagine what it was like being stuck inside the miraculous, again." -Marinette told her. –"But don't worry, it's all over now. The Collector can't hurt anyone anymore." -she said, as she placed her hands around the tiny kwami and gently pulled her towards her chest. –"You're safe, Tikki."

"No, we're both safe, Marinette." -Tikki said, as a little tear rolled down her face.

Checking the clock on the wall, she noticed that in a couple of minutes it would be midnight. Knowing she had school in the morning, Marinette quickly changed into her pyjamas and got ready for bed. While she did that, her cell rang, signalling she had received a text message. Checking it, she saw it was from Master Fu, telling her that he had arrived safely home, and that the urn was now safely hidden. Almost right after, she also got texts from most of the gang, saying that they had arrived home safely as well. Smiling, she texted them all back, saying that she too had arrived safely.

Knowing Tikki would be hungry, Marinette gently opened her door, went down the stairs as silently as possible and made her way to the kitchen for some snacks. Grabbing a couple of chocolate chip cookies and a large glass of milk, she made her way back to her room. The last thing she did before making her way to bed, was to grab a book she had been dying to read, but because she had promised Tikki, she would not start reading it before the Collector had been caught, only now was she going to be able to read it.

"Oh, you remembered!" -Tikki exclaimed, as she looked at the book's cover, recognizing it. For some unknown reason, the words "It" written on a red balloon were giving her the shivers, though these shivers were shivers of the good kind.

"Yes, I did remember." -Marinette said, as she placed the plate of cookies and the glass of milk on her bedside table, and the book on top of her bed. –"And I brought a couple of things so we can snack on, while reading the first chapters." -she smiled. –"After all, a Stephen King book demands that we eat some delicious cookies, while reading it, right?"

"If you say so." -Tikki smiled, as she grabbed a cookie, taking a huge bite of it. –"But shouldn't you go to sleep? You have school tomorrow." -she asked the blue-haired girl, worrying that she might fall asleep and be late for school.

"Oh, I'll just read a couple of chapters, before turning in for the night. Besides, I want to spend a little time with you, to make for all the time we've been apart." -Marinette said, as she nibbled a cookie, while pulling the covers and grabbing the book. –"Now, come on, get comfy, because we're about to read one of the spookiest novels ever written."

"Okay, Marinette." -Tikki agreed. –"Although, after what we all went through, maybe you should read something a little less scary?" -the little kwami asked her.

"Nonsense, Tikki. You know I love scary stories, and for some reason, instead of giving me nightmares, they actually give me crazy dreams. Plus, this book is only scary for those who are afraid of clowns, and I'm not afraid of them." -Marinette giggled, as she opened the book. –"I'll read the narrative and you read the dialogue, okay, Tikki?" -she told her kwami, who waved her head at her, as she gently nested herself on top of Marinette's head. Clearing her throat, she began to read. –" _The terror, which would not end for another twenty-eight years - if it ever did end - began, so far as I know or can tell, with a boat made from a sheet of newspaper floating down a gutter swollen with rain. The boat bobbed, listed, righted itself again, dived bravely through treacherous whirlpools, and continued on its way down Witcham Street toward the traffic light which marked the intersection of Witcham and Jackson. The three vertical lenses on all sides of the traffic light were dark this afternoon in the fall of 1957, and the houses were all dark, too. There had been steady rain for a week now, and two days ago the winds had come as well. Most sections of Derry had lost their power then, and it was not back on yet. A small boy in a yellow slicker and red galoshes ran cheerfully along beside the newspaper boat. The rain had not stopped, but it was finally slackening. It tapped on the yellow hood of the boy's slicker, sounding to his ears like rain on a shed roof… a comfortable, almost cozy sound. The boy in the yellow slicker was George Denbrough. He was six. His brother, William, known to most of the kids at Derry Elementary School (and even to the teachers, who would never have used the nickname to his face) as Stuttering Bill, was at home, hacking out the last of a nasty case of influenza. In that autumn of 1957, eight months before the real horrors began and twenty-eight years before the final showdown, Stuttering Bill was ten years old. Bill had made the boat beside which George now ran. He had made it sitting up in bed, his back propped against a pile of pillows, while their mother played Für Elise on the piano in the parlor and rain swept restlessly against his bedroom window. About three-quarters of the way down the block as one headed toward the intersection and the dead traffic light, Witcham Street was blocked to motor traffic by smudgepots and four orange sawhorses_."

"We're off to a good start." -Tikki said.

"I know, right? I just love how the author sets the mood for the story, without making it too banal or too scary." -Marinette said. –"Now where was I? Oh yeah!" -she giggled. –" _Stencilled across each of the horses was DERRY DEPT. OF PUBLIC WORKS. Beyond them, the rain had spilled out of gutters clogged with branches and rocks and big sticky piles of autumn leaves. The water had first pried fingerholds in the paving and then snatched whole greedy handfuls - all of this by the third day of the rains. By noon of the fourth day, big chunks of the street's surface were boating through the intersection of Jackson and Witcham like miniature white-water rafts. By that time, many people in Derry had begun to make nervous jokes about arks. The Public Works Department had managed to keep Jackson Street open, but Witcham was impassable from the sawhorses all the way to the center of town. But everyone agreed, the worst was over. The Kenduskeag Stream had crested just below its banks in the Barrens and bare inches below the concrete sides of the Canal which channelled it tightly as it passed through downtown. Right now a gang of men - Zack Denbrough, George's and Bill's father, among them - were removing the sandbags they had thrown up the day before with such panicky haste. Yesterday overflow and expensive flood damage had seemed almost inevitable. God knew it had happened before - the flooding in 1931 had been a disaster which had cost millions of dollars and almost two dozen lives._ "

"Oh, now I'm getting a little scared." -Tikki giggled

"Oh yeah? You are?" -Marinette said, as an evil smile appeared on her face. –"Then… you better be careful, because the Tickle Monster might just appear and tickle you!" -she exclaimed, as she dropped the book, and quickly grabbed Tikki, beginning to tickle her.

"Ahahahah… n-not fair, Marinette! N-Not f-fair!" -Tikki kept laughing, as Marinette tickled her.

"Tickle, tickle, tickle!" -Marinette laughed, as she kept tickling her kwami, who continued to laugh like crazy. –" _I missed these little moment so much. If it's up to me, I'll never let you out of my sight, ever again, Tikki. I promise you._ " -she thought to herself, as Tikki's laughs filled her room, making her smile.

The End… for now.


End file.
